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D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK. 


ESS  AY  S 


SCIENTIFIC,    POLITICAL, 
AND    SPECULATIVE 


BY 

HEEBEET  SPENCEE 


LIBRARY    EDITION 

CONTAINING    SEVEN   ESSAYS   NOT   BEFORE    REPUBLISHED 
ANU   VARIOUS   OTHER   AUDITIONS 


VOL.  I 


NEW    YORK 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1904 


Authorized  Edition. 


oOO 


Y. 


PREFACE. 

Excepting  those  whicli  have  appeared  as  articles  in  periodi- 
cals during  the  last  eight  years,  the  essays  here  gathered 
together  were  originally  re-published  in  separate  volumes 
at  long  intervals.  The  first  volume  appeared  in  December 
1857;  the  second  in  November  1863;  and  the  third  in 
February  1874.  By  the  time  the  original  editions  of  the 
first  two  had  been  sold,  American  reprints,  differently 
entitled  and  having  the  essays  differently  arranged,  had 
been  produced ;  and,  for  economy's  sake,  I  have  since  con- 
tented myself  with  importing  successive  supplies  printed 
from  the  American  stereotype  plates.  Of  the  third 
volume,  however,  supplies  have,  as  they  were  required, 
been  printed  over  here,  from  plates  partly  American  and 
partly  English.  The  completion  of  this  final  edition  of 
course  puts  an  end  to  this  make-shift  arrangement. 

The  essays  above  referred  to  as  having  been  written 
since  1882,  are  now  incorporated  with  those  previously 
re-published.  There  are  seven  of  them ;  namely — "Morals 
and  Moral  Sentiments,"  "  The  Factors  of  Organic  Evolu- 
tion," "Professor  Green's  Explanations,"  "The  Ethics  of 
Kant,"  "Absolute  Political  Ethics,"  "From  Freedom  to 
Bondage,"  and  "  The  Americans."  As  well  as  those  large 
additions  there  are  small  additions,  in  the  shape  of  pott- 

653248 


IV  PREFACE. 

scripts  to  various  essays — one  to  "  Tke  Constitution  of 
the  Sun/'  one  to  "The  Philosophy  of  Style/*  one  to 
**  Railway  Morals/'  one  to  "  Prison  Ethics/'  and  one  to 
*' Tlie  Origin  and  Function  of  Music:"  which  last  is  aboiit 
equal  in  length  to  the  original  essay.  Changes  have  beeTi 
made  in  many  of  the  essays :  in  some  cases  by  omitting 
passages  and  in  other  cases  by  including  new  ones. 
Especially  the  essay  on  "  The  Nebular  Hypothesis  "  may 
be  named  as  one  which,  though  unchanged  in  essentials, 
has  been  much  altered  by  additions  and  subtractions,  and 
by  bringing  its  statements  up  to  date ;  so  that  it  has  been 
in  large  measure  re-cast.  Beyond  these  respects  in  which 
this  final  edition  differs  from  preceding  editions,  it  differs 
in  having  undergone  a  verification  of  its  references  and 
quotations,  as  well  as  a  second  verbal  revision. 

Naturally  the  fusion  of  three  separate  series  of  essays 
into  one  series,  has  made  needful  a  general  re-arrangement. 
Whether  to  follow  the  order  of  time  or  the  order  of 
subjects  was  a  question  which  presented  itself;  and,  as 
neither  alternative  promised  satisfactory  results,  I  eventually 
decided  to  compromise — to  follow  partly  the  one  order  and 
partly  the  other.  The  first  volume  is  made  up  of  essays  in 
which  the  idea  of  evolution,  general  or  special,  is  dominant. 
In  the  second  volume  essays  dealing  with  philosophical 
questions,  with  abstract  and  concrete  science,  and  with 
aesthetics,  are  brought  together ;  but  though  all  of  them  aro 
tacitly  evolutionary,  their  evolutionism  is  an  incidental  rather 
than  a  necessary  trait.  The  ethical,  political,  and  social 
essays  composing  the  third  volume,  though  mostly  written 
from  the  evolution  point  of  view,  have  for  their  more 
immediate  purposes  the  enunciation  of  doctrines  which  are 
directly  practical  in  their  bearings.  Meanwhile,  within 
each  volume  the  essa3'S  are  arranged  in  order  of  time  ;  uoc 


PREFACE.  ▼ 

indeed  strictly,  but  so  far  as  consists  with  the  requirements 
of  sub-classing. 

Beyond  the  essays  included  in  these  three  volumes,  there 
remain  several  which  I  have  not  thought  it  well  to  include 
— in  some  cases  because  of  their  personal  character,  in  other 
cases  because  of  their  relative  unimportance,  and  in  yet 
other  cases  because  they  would  scarcely  be  understood,  in  the 
absence  of  the  arguments  to  which  they  are  replies.  But 
for  the  convenience  of  any  who  may  wish  to  find  them,  I 
append  their  titles  and  places  of  publication.  These  are  as 
follows  : — "  E-etrogressive  Religion,"  in  The  Nineteenth 
Century  for  July  1884;  ''Last  Words  about  Agnosticism 
and  the  Religion  of  Humanity,"  in  I'he  Nineteenth  Century 
for  November  1884;  a  note  to  Prof.  Cairns'  Critique  on  the 
Study  of  Sociology,  in  The  Fortnightly  Review,  for  February 
1875;  "A  Short  Rejoinder"  [to  Mr.  J.  F.  McLennan], 
Fortnightly  Review,  June  1877  ;  "Prof.  Goldwin  Smith  as  a 
Critic,"  Contemporary  Review,  March  1882;  "A  Rejoinder 
to  M.  de  Laveitye,"  Contemporary  Review,  April  1885. 

London,  December.  1890. 


\ 

T*. 


r-^ , 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


THE    DEVELOPMENT    HYPOTBESIS  ... 

PROGRESS:    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE... 

TEANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY 

THE   NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS 

ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY 

BAIN    ON    THE   EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL 

THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM 

THE    ORIGIN    OP   ANIMAL   WORSHIP 

MORALS   AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS 

THE    COMPARATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    MAN 

MR.    MARTINEAU    ON   EVOLUTION     ... 

THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION 


PAGE 
1 


63 

108 
192 
2U 
2G5 
3U8 
831 
351 
371 
389 


(For  Index,  see  Volume  III.') 


THE   DEVELOr^fEXT   TTYPOTHESTS. 

\_Ori.pnalhi  published  in  The  Leader,  for  March  20,  1852.  Brief 
tliouf]}b  it  in,  I  place  this  essay  before  the  rest,  partly  hecauf^e  with 
the  exception  of  a  siw/darly -brief  essay  on  "  Use  and  Beauty'", 
it  came  first  in  order  of  time,  but  chiefly  because  it  cavie  first  in 
order  of  thuwjhl,  and  struck  the  keynote  of  all  that  was  to  follow S\ 

In  a  debate  upon  the  development  hypothesis,  lately 
narrated  to  me  by  a  friend,  one  of  the  disputants  was 
described  as  arguing  that  as,  in  all  our  experience,  we 
know  no  such  phenomenon  as  transmutation  of  species,  it 
is  unphilosophical  to  assume  that  transmutation  of  species 
ever  takes  place.  Had  I  been  present  I  think  that,  passing 
over  his  assertion,  which  is  open  to  criticism,  I  should 
have  replied  that,  as  in  all  our  experience  we  have  never 
known  a  species  created,  it  was,  by  his  own  showing, 
unphilosophical  to  assume  that  any  species  ever  had 
been  created. 

Those  who  cavalierly  reject  the  Theory  of  Evolution  as 
not  being  adequately  supported  by  facts,  seem  to  forget  that 
their  own  theory  is  supported  by  no  facts  at  all.  Like  the 
majority  of  men  who  are  born  to  a  given  belief,  they  demand 
the  most  rigorous  proof  of  any  adverse  belief,  but  assume 
that  their  own  needs  none.  Here  we  find,  scattered  over 
the  globe,  vegetable  and  animal  organisms  numbering,  of 
the  one  kind  (according  to  Humboldt),  some  320,000  species, 
and  of  the  other,  some  2,000,000  species  (see  Carpenter)  ; 
and  if  to  these  we  add  the  numbers  of  animal  and  vegetable 


Z  THE    DEVELOPMENT    nYPOTHESIS. 

species  wliicli  have  become  extinct,  Ave  may  safely  estimate 
the  number  of  species  that  have  existed,  and  are  existing, 
on  the  Earth,  at  not  less  than  ten  millions.  Well,  which 
is  the  most  rational  theory  about  these  ten  millions  of 
species  ?  Is  it  most  likely  that  there  have  been  ten  millions 
of  special  creations  ?  or  is  it  most  likely  that,  by  continual 
modifications  due  to  change  of  circumstances,  ten  millions 
of  varieties  have  been  produced,  as  varieties  are  being 
produced  still  ? 

Doubtless  many  will  reply  that  they  can  more  easily  con- 
ceive ten  millions  of  special  creations  to  have  taken  place, 
than  they  can  conceive  that  ten  millions  of  varieties  have 
arisen  by  successive  modifications.  All  such,  however,  will 
find,  on  inquiry,  that  they  are  under  an  illusion.  This  is 
one  of  the  many  cases  in  which  men  do  not  really  believe, 
but  rather  believe  they  believe.  It  is  not  that  they  can  truly 
conceive  ten  millions  of  special  creations  to  have  taken 
place,  but  that  they  thinh  they  can  do  so.  Careful  intro- 
spection will  show  them  that  they  have  never  yet  realized 
to  themselves  the  creation  of  even  one  species.  If  they 
have  formed  a  definite  conception  of  the  process,  let  them 
tell  us  how  a  new  species  is  constructed,  and  how  it  makes 
its  appearance.  Is  it  thrown  down  from  the  clouds  ?  or 
must  we  hold  to  the  notion  that  it  struggles  up  out  of  the 
ground  ?  Do  its  limbs  and  viscera  rush  together  from  all 
the  points  of  the  compass  ?  or  must  we  receive  the  old 
Hebrew  idea,  that  God  takes  clay  and  moulds  a  new 
creature  ?  If  they  say  that  a  new  creature  is  produced  in 
none  of  these  modes,  which  are  too  absurd  to  be  believed, 
then  they  are  required  to  describe  the  mode  in  which  a  new 
creature  may  be  produced — a  mode  which  does  not  seem 
absurd;  and  such  a  mode  they  will  find  that  they  neither 
have  conceived  nor  can  conceive. 

Should  the  believers  in  special  creations  consider  it  unfair 
thus  to  call  upon  them  to  describe  how  special  creations 
take  place,  I  reply  that  this  is  far  less  than  they  demand 


THE    DEVELOPMENT    HYPOTHESIS.  3 

* 

from  the  supporters  of  the  Development  Hypothesis, 
They  are  merely  asked  to  point  out  a  conceivable  mode. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  ask,  not  simply  for  a  conceivable 
mode,  but  for  the  actual  mode.  They  do  not  say — Show 
us  how  this  may  take  place ;  but  they  say — Show  us  how 
this  does  take  place.  So  far  from  its  being  unreasonable 
to  put  the  above  question,  it  would  be  reasonable  to  ask 
not  only  for  a  possible  mode  of  special  creation,  but  for  an 
ascertained  mode  ;  seeing  that  this  is  no  greater  a  demand 
than  they  make  upon  their  opponents. 

And  here  we  may  perceive  how  much  more  defensible 
the  new  doctrine  is  than  the  old  one.  Even  could  the  sup- 
porters of  the  Development  Hypothesis  merely  show  that 
the  origination  of  species  by  the  process  of  modification  is 
conceivable,  they  would  be  in  a  better  position  than  their 
opponents.  But  they  can  do  much  more  than  this.  They 
can  show  that  the  process  of  modification  has  effected,  and 
is  effecting,  decided  changes  in  all  organisms  subject  to 
modifying  influences.  Though,  from  the  impossibility  of 
getting  at  a  sufficiency  of  facts,  they  are  unable  to  trace  the 
many  phases  through  which  any  existing  species  has  passed 
in  arriving  at  its  present  form,  or  to  identify  the  influences 
which  caused  the  successive  modifications;  yet,  they  can 
chow  that  any  existing  species — animal  or  vegetable — when 
placed  under  conditions  different  from  its  previous  ones, 
immediately  begins  to  undergo  certain  changes  fitting  it  for 
the  new  conditions.  They  can  show  that  in  successive 
generations  these  changes  continue ;  until,  ultimately,  the 
new  conditions  become  the  natural  ones.  They  can  show 
that  in  cultivated  plants,  in  domesticated  animals,  and  in 
the  several  races  of  men,  such  alterations  have  taken  place. 
They  can  show  that  the  degrees  of  difference  so  produced 
are  often,  as  in  dogs,  greater  than  those  on  which  distinctions 
of  species  are  in  other  cases  founded.  They  can  show  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  dispute  whether  some  of  these  modified  forms 
are  varieties  or  separate  species.    They  can  show,  too,  that 


4  THE    DEVELOPMENT    HYPOTHESIS. 

the  changes  daily  taking-  place  in  ourselves — the  facility 
that  attends  long  practice,  and  the  loss  of  aptitude  that 
begins  when  practice  ceases — the  strengthening  of  passions 
habitually  gratified,  and  the  weakening  of  those  habitually 
curbed — the  development  of  every  faculty,  bodily,  moral, 
or  intellectual,  according  to  the  use  made  of  it — are  all 
explicable  on  this  same  principle.  And  thus  they  can  show 
that  throughout  all  organic  nature  there  is  at  work  a 
modifying  influence  of  the  kind  they  assign  as  the  cause  of 
these  specific  differences :  an  influence  which,  though  slow 
in  its  action,  does,  in  time,  if  the  circumstances  demand  it, 
produce  marked  changes — an  influence  which,  to  all  appear- 
ance, would  produce  in  the  millions  of  years,  and  under 
the  great  varieties  of  condition  which  geological  records 
imply,  any  amount  of  change. 

Which,  then,  is  the  most  rational  hypothesis  ? — that  of 
special  creations  which  has  neither  a  fact  to  support  it  nor 
is  even  definitely  conceivable;  or  that  of  modification, 
which  is  not  only  definitely  conceivable,  but  is  countenanced 
by  the  habitudes  of  every  existing  organism  ? 

That  by  any  series  of  changes  a  protozoon  should  ever 
become  a  mammal,  seems  to  those  who  are  not  familiar 
with  zoology,  and  who  have  not  seen  how  clear  becomes  the 
relationship  between  the  simplest  and  the  most  complex 
forms  when  intermediate  forms  are  examined,  a  very  gro- 
tesque notion.  Habitually  looking  at  things  rather  in  their 
statical  aspect  than  in  their  dynamical  aspect,  they  never 
realize  the  fact  that,  by  small  increments  of  modification, 
any  amount  of  modification  may  in  time  be  generated. 
That  surprise  which  they  feel  on  finding  one  whom  they 
last  saw  as  a  boy,  grown  into  a  man,  becomes  incredulity 
when  the  degree  of  change  is  greater.  Nevertheless, 
abundant  instances  are  at  hand  of  the  mode  in  which  we 
may  pass  to  the  most  diverse  forms  by  insensible  gradations. 
Arguing  the  matter  some  time  since  with  a  learned  pro- 
fessor, 1  illustrated  my  position  thus  : — You  admit   that 


THE    DEVELOPMENT   HYPOTHESIS.  b 

there  is  no  apparent  relationship  between  a  circle  and  an 
hyperbola.  The  one  is  a  finite  curve ;  the  other  is  an  infinite 
one.  All  parts  of  the  one  are  alike ;  of  the  other  no  parts 
are  alike  [save  parts  on  its  opposite  sides] .  The  one  incloses 
a  space  ;  the  other  will  not  inclose  a  space  though  produced 
for  ever.  Yet  opposite  as  are  these  curves  in  all  their 
properties,  they  may  be  connected  together  by  a  series  of 
intermediate  curves,  no  one  of  which  differs  from  the 
adjacent  ones  in  any  appreciable  degree.  Thus,  if  a  cone 
be  cut  by  a  plane  at  right  angles  to  its  axis  we  get  a  circle. 
If,  instead  of  being  perfectly  at  right  angles,  the  plane 
subtends  with  the  axis  an  angle  of  89°  59',  we  have  an 
ellipse  which  no  human  eye,  even  when  aided  by  an  accurate 
pair  of  compasses,  can  distinguish  from  a  circle.  Decreas- 
ing the  angle  minute  by  minute,  the  ellipse  becomes  first 
perceptibly  eccentric,  then  manifestly  so,  and  by  and  by 
acquires  so  immensely  elongated  a  form,  as  to  bear  no 
recognizable  resemblance  to  a  circle.  By  continuing  this 
process,  the  ellipse  passes  insensibly  into  a  parabola;  and, 
ultimately,  by  still  further  diminishing  the  angle,  into  an 
hyperbola.  Now  here  we  have  four  different  species  of 
curve — circle,  ellipse,  parabola,  and  hyperbola — each  having 
its  peculiar  properties  and  its  separate  equation,  and  the 
first  and  last  of  which  are  quite  opposite  in  nature,  connected 
together  as  members  of  one  series,  all  producible  by  a  single 
process  of  insensible  modification. 

But  the  blindness  of  those  who  think  it  absurd  to  suppose 
that  complex  organic  forms  may  have  arisen  by  successive 
modifications  out  of  simple  ones,  becomes  astonishing  when 
we  remember  that  complex  organic  forms  are  daily  being 
thus  produced.  A  tree  differs  from  a  seed  immeasurably 
in  every  respect — in  bulk,  in  structure,  in  colour,  in  form, 
in  chemical  composition  :  differs  so  greatly  that  no  visible 
resemblance  of  any  kind  can  be  pointed  out  between  them. 
Yet  is  the  one  changed  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  into 
the  other ;  changed  so  gradually,  that  at  no  moment  can 


ft  THE    DEVELOPMENT    HYPOTHESIS. 

it  be  said — Now  the  seed  ceases  to  be,  and  the  tree  exists. 
What  can  be  more  widely  contrasted  than  a  newly-born 
child  and  the  small,  semi-transparent  spherule  constituting 
the  human  ovum  ?  The  infant  is  so  complex  in  structure 
\J  that  a  cyclopaedia  is  needed  to  describe  its  constituent 
parts.  The  germinal  vesicle  is  so  simple  that  it  may  b/3 
defined  in  a  line.  Nevertheless  a  few  months  suffice  to 
develop  the  one  out  of  the  other;  and  that,  too,  by  a 
series  of  modifications  so  small,  that  were  the  embryo 
examined  at  successive  minutes,  even  a  microscope  would 
with  difiiculty  disclose  any  sensible  changes.  That  the 
uneducated  and  the  ill-educated  should  think  the  hypothesis 
that  all  races  of  beings,  man  inclusive,  may  in  process  of 
time  have  been  evolved  from  the  simplest  monad,  a  ludicrous 
one,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  But  for  the  physiologist, 
who  knows  that  every  individual  being  is  so  evolved — who 
knows,  further,  that  in  their  earliest  condition  the  germs 
of  all  plants  and  animals  whatever  are  so  similar,  "  that 
there  is  no  appreciable  distinction  amongst  them,  which 
would  enable  it  to  be  determined  whether  a  particular 
molecule  is  the  germ  of  a  Conferva  or  of  an  Oak,  of  a 
Zoophyte  or  of  a  Man ; "  * — for  him  to  make  a  difficulty  of 
the  matter  is  inexcusable.  Surely  if  a  single  cell  may, 
when  subjected  to  certain  influences,  become  a  man  in  tbe 
space  of  twenty  years ;  there  is  nothing  absurd  in  the 
hypothesis  that  under  certain  other  influences,  a  cell  may, 
in  the  course  of  millions  of  years,  give  origin  to  the 
human  race. 

We  have,  indeed,  in  the  part  taken  by  many  scientific 
men  in  this  controversy  of  "  Law  versus  Miracle,"  a  good 
illustration  of  the  tenacious  vitality  of  superstitions.  Ask 
one  of  our  leading  geologists  or  physiologists  whether  he 
believes  in  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation,  and  he  will 
take  the  question  as  next  to  an  insult.  Either  he  rejects  the 
narrative  entirely,  or  understands  it  in  some  vague  non- 
*  Carpenter,  Principle»  of  Comparative  Physiology,  p,  474. 


THE    DEVELOPMENT    HYPOTHESIS.  7 

natural  sense.  Yet  one  part  of  it  lie  unconsciously  adopts; 
and  tliat,  too,  literally.  For  whence  lias  he  got  this  notion 
of  "  special  creations/'  which  he  thinks  so  reasonable,  and 
fights  for  so  vigorously?  Evidently  he  can  trace  it  back 
to  no  other  source  than  this  myth  which  he  repudiates. 
He  has  not  a  single  fact  in  nature  to  cite  in  proof  of  it ; 
nor  is  he  prepared  with  any  chain  of  reasoning  by  which  it 
may  be  established.  Catechize  him,  and  he  will  be  forced 
to  confess  that  the  notion  was  put  into  his  mind  in  child- 
hood as  part  of  a  story  which  he  now  thinks  absurd.  And 
why,  after  rejecting  all  the  rest  of  the  story,  he  should 
strenuously  defend  this  last  remnant  of  it,  as  though  he 
had  received  it  on  valid  authority,  he  would  be  puzzled 
to  say. 


PROGRESS:  ITS  LAW  AND  CAUSE. 

[First  pulUsJied  in  The  Westminster  Review /or  April,  1857, 
Thour/h  the  ideas  and  illustrations  contained  in  this  essay  were 
eventually  incorporated  in  First  Principles,  yet  I  think  it  well 
here  to  reproduce  it  as  exhibiting  the  form  under  which  the  General 
Doctrine  of  Evolution  made  its  first  appearance.^ 

The  current  conception  of  progress  is  shifting  and 
indefinite.  Sometimes  it  comprehends  little  more  than 
simple  growth — as  of  a  nation  in  the  number  of  its  members 
and  the  extent  of  territory  over  which  it  spreads.  Sometimes 
it  has  reference  to  quantity  of  material  products — as  when 
the  advance  of  agriculture  and  manufactures  is  the  topic. 
Sometimes  the  superior  quality  of  these  products  is  con- 
templated ;  and  sometimes  the  new  or  improved  appliances 
by  which  they  are  produced.  When,  again,  we  speak  of 
moral  or  intellectual  progress,  we  refer  to  states  of  the 
individual"  or  people  exhibiting  it;  while,  when  the  progress 
of  Science,  or  Art,  is  commented  upon,  we  have  in  view 
certain  abstract  results  of  human  thought  and  action.  Not 
only,  however,  is  the  current  conception  of  progress  more 
or  less  vague,  but  it  is  in  great  measure  erroneous.  It 
takes  in  not  so  much  the  reality  of  progress  as  its  accom- 
paniments— not  so  much  the  substance  as  the  shadow. 
That  progress  in  intelligence  seen  during  the  growth  of 
the  child  into  the  man,  or  the  savage  into  the  philosopher, 
is  commonly  regarded  as  consisting'  in  the  greater  number 


PROGRESS  :     ITS   LAW   AND    CAUSE.  9 

of  facts  known  and  laws  understood ;  whereas  tlie  actual 
progress  consists  in  those  internal  modifications  of  which 
this  larger  knowledge  is  the  expression.  Social  progress 
is  supposed  to  consist  in  the  making  of  a  greater  quantity 
and  variety  of  the  articles  required  for  satisfying  men's 
wants ;  in  the  increasing  security  of  person  and  property  j 
in  widening  freedom  of  action;  whereas,  rightly  understood, 
social  progress  consists  in  those  changes  of  structure  in  the 
social  organism  which  have  entailed  these  consequences. 
The  current  conception  is  a  teleological  one.  The  pheno- 
mena are  contemplated  solely  as  bearing  on  human 
happiness.  Only  those  changes  are  held  to  constitute 
progress  which  directly  or  indirectly  tend  to  heighten 
human  happiness ;  and  they  are  thought  to  constitute 
progress  simply  because  they  tend  to  heighten  human 
happiness.  But  rightly  to  understand  progress,  we  must 
learn  the  nature  of  these  changes,  considered  apart  from 
our  interests.  Ceasing,  for  example,  to  regard  the  suc- 
cessive geological  modifications  that  have  taken  place  in 
the  Earth,  as  modifications  that  have  gradually  fitted  it  for 
the  habitation  of  Man,  and  as  therefore  constituting  geo- 
logical progress,  we  must  ascertain  the  character  common 
to  these  modifications — the  law  to  which  they  all  conform. 
And  similarly  in  every  other  case.  Leaving  out  of  sight 
concomitants  and  beneficial  consequences,  let  us  ask  what 
progress  is  in  itself. 

In  respect  to  that  progress  which  individual  organisms 
display  in  the  course  of  their  evolution,  this  question  has 
been  answered  by  the  Germans.  The  investigations  of 
AVolff,  Goethe,  and  von  Baer,  have  established  the  truth 
that  the  series  of  changes  gone  through  during  the  develop- 
ment of  a  seed  into  a  tree,  or  an  ovum  into  an  animal, 
constitute  an  advance  from  homogeneity  of  structure  to 
heterogeneity  of  structure.  In  its  primary  stage,  every 
germ  consists  of  a  substance  that  is  uniform  throughout, 
both  in  texture  and  chemical  composition.     The  first  step 


10  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE. 

is  the  appearance  of  a  d  I  [Terence  between  two  parts  of  this 
substance ;  or,  as  tlie  plienomenon  is  called  in  physiological 
language,  a  differentiation.  Each  of  these  differentiated 
divisions  presently  begins  itself  to  exhibit  some  contrast 
of  parts :  and  by  and  by  these  secondary  differentiations 
become  as  definite  as  the  oi-iginal  one.  This  process  is 
continuously  repeated — is  simultaneously  going  on  in  all 
parts  of  the  growing  embryo ;  and  by  endless  such  differen- 
tiations there  is  finally  produced  that  complex  combination 
of  tissues  and  organs  constituting  the  adult  animal  or 
plant.  This  is  the  history  of  all  organisms  whatever.  It 
is  settled  beyond  dispute  that  organic  progress  consists  in 
a  change  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous. 

Now,  we  propose  in  the  first  place  to  show,  that  this  law 
of  organic  progress  is  the  law  of  all  progress.  Whether  it 
be  in  the  development  of  the  Earth,  in  the  development  of 
Life  upon  its  surface,  in  the  development  of  Society,  of 
Government,  of  Manufactures,  of  Commerce,  of  Language, 
Literature,  Science,  Art,  this  same  evolution  of  the  simple 
into  the  complex,  through  successive  differentiations,  holds 
throughout.  From  the  earliest  traceable  cosmical  changes 
down  to  the  latest  results  of  civilization,  we  shall  find  that 
the  transformation  of  the  homogeneous  into  the  hetero- 
geneous, is  that  in  which  progress  essentially  consists. 

With  the  view  of  showing  that  if  the  Nebular  Hypothesis 
be  true,  the  genesis  of  the  solar  system  supplies  one  illus- 
tration of  this  law,  let  us  assume  that  the  matter  of  which 
the  sun  and  planets  consist  was  once  in  a  diffused  form; 
and  that  from  the  gravitation  of  its  atoms  there  resulted  a 
gradual  concentration.  By  the  hypothesis,  the  solar  system 
in  its  nascent  state  existed  as  an  indefinitely  extended 
and  nearly  homogeneous  medium — a  medium  almost  homo- 
geneous in  density,  in  temperature,  and  in  other  physical 
attributes.  The  first  change  in  the  direction  of  increased 
aggregation,  brought  a  contract  in  density  and  a  contrast 
in   temperature,    between    the    interior    and    the    exterior 


PKOGRESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  It 

of   tMs  mass.       Simultaneously  tlie    drawing  in  of   outer 

parts  caused  motions  ending  in   rotation  round  a  centre 

with    various    angular   velocities.       These    differentiations 

increased  in  number  and  degree  until  there  was  evolved 

the  organized  group  of  sun,  planets,  and  satellites,  which 

W3  now  know — a  group  which  presents  numerous  contrasts 

of   structure  and  action  among  its  members.     There  are 

the  immense  contrasts  between  the  sun  and  the  planets,  in 

bulk  and  in  weight;  as  well  as  the  subordinate  contrasts 

between  one  planet  and  another,  and  between  the  planets 

and  their  satellites.     There  is  the  similarly-marked  contract 

between  the   sun   as  almost  stationary    (relatively  to  the 

other  members  of  the   Solar  System),  and  the  planets  as 

moving  round  him  with  great  velocity  :  while  there  are  the 

secondary  contrasts  between  the  velocities  and  periods  of 

the  several  planets,  and  between  their  simple  revolutions 

and  the  double  ones  of  their  satellites,  which  have  to  move 

round  their  pi-imaries  while  moving  round  the  sun.     There 

is  the  yet  further  strong    contrast   between  the  sun  and 

the  planets  in  respect  of  temperature ;   and  there  is  good 

reason  to  suppose  that  the  planets  and  satellites  differ  from 

each  other  in  their  proper  heats,  as  well  as  in  the  amounts 

of  heat  they  receive  from  the  sun.     When  we  bear  in  mind 

that,  in  addition  to  these  various  contrasts,  the  planets  and 

satellites  also  differ  in  respect  to  their  distances  from  each 

other  and  their  primary  ;  in  respect  to  the  inclinations  of 

their  orbits,  the  inclinations  of  their  axes,  their  times  of 

rotation  on  their  axes,  their  specific  gravities,  and  their 

physical    constitutions;    we    see    what    a   high    degree    of 

heterogeneity  the   solar   system  exhibits,  when    compared 

with   the  almost  complete  homogeneity  of   the  nebulous 

mass  out  of  which  it  is  supposed  to  have  originated. 

Passing  from  this  hypothetical  illustration,  which  must  be 
taken  for  what  it  is  worth,  without  prejudice  to  the  general 
argument,  let  us  descend  to  a  more  certain  order  of 
evidence.     It  is  now  generally  agreed  among  geologists 


]  2  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE, 

and  physicists  that  the  Earth  was  at  one  time  a  masa 
of  molten  matter.  If  so,  it  was  at  that  time  relatively 
homogeneous  in  consistence,  and,  in  virtue  of  the  circu- 
lation which  takes  place  in  heated  fluids,  must  have  been 
comparatively  homogeneous  in  temperature ;  and  it  must 
have  been  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  consisting 
partly  of  the  elements  of  air  and  water,  and  partly  of 
those  various  other  elements  which  are  among  the  moi'e 
ready  to  assume  gaseous  forms  at  high  temperatures.  That 
slow  cooling  by  radiation  which  is  still  going  on  at  an 
inappreciable  rate,  and  whicli,  though  originally  far  more 
rapid  than  now,  necessarily  required  an  immense  time  to 
produce  any  decided  change,  must  ultimately  have  resulted 
in  the  solidification  of  the  portion  most  able  to  part  with  its 
heat — namely,  the  surface.  In  the  thin  crust  thus  formed 
we  have  the  first  marked  differentiation.  A  still  further 
cooling,  a  consequent  thickening  of  this  crust,  and  an 
accompanying  deposition  of  all  solidifiable  elements  con- 
tained in  the  atmosphere,  must  finally  have  been  followed 
by  the  condensation  of  the  water  previously  existing  as 
vapour.  A  second  marked  differentiation  must  thus  have 
arisen ;  and  as  the  condensation  must  have  taken  place  on 
the  coolest  parts  of  the  surface — namely,  about  the  poles — 
there  must  thus  have  resulted  the  first  geographical 
distinction  of  parts.  To  these  illustrations  of  growing 
heterogeneity,  which,  though  deduced  from  known  physical 
laws,  may  be  regarded  as  more  or  less  hypothetical, 
Geology  adds  an  extensive  series  that  have  been  inductively 
established.  Investigations  show  that  the  Earth  has  been 
continually  becoming  more  heterogeneous  in  virtue  of  tho 
multiplication  of  sedimentary  strata  which  form  its  crust ; 
also,  that  it  has  been  becoming  more  heterogeneous  in 
respect  of  the  composition  of  these  strata,  the  later  of 
which,  being  made  from  the  detritus  of  the  earlier,  are 
many  of  them  rendered  highly  complex  by  the  mixture  of 
materials  they  contain ;  and  further,  that  this  heterogeneity 


PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  ''  13 

has  been  vastly  increased  by  tbe  actions  of  tbe  Eartb's  still 
molten  nucleus  upon  its  envelope,  wbence  have  resulted  not 
only  many  kinds  of  igneous  rocks,  but  the  tilting  uf  of 
sedimentary  strata  at  all  angles,  the  formation  of  faults  and 
metallic  veins,  the  production  of  endless  dislocations  and 
irregularities.  Yet  again,  geologists  teach  us  that  the 
Earth's  surface  has  been  growing  more  varied  in  elevation 
■ — that  the  most  ancient  mountain  systems  are  the  smallest, 
and  the  Andes  and  Himalayas  the  most  modern ;  while  in 
all  probability  there  have  been  corresponding  changes  in 
the  bed  of  the  ocean.  As  a  consequence  of  these  ceaseless 
differentiations,  we  now  find  that  no  considerable  portion 
of  the  Earth's  exposed  surface  is  like  any  other  portion, 
either  in  contour,  in  geologic  structure,  or  in  chemical 
composition ;  and  that  in  most  parts  it  changes  from  mile 
to  mile  in  all  these  characters.  Moreover,  there  has  been 
simultaneously  going  on  a  differentiation  of  climates.  As 
fast  as  the  Earth  cooled  and  its  crust  solidified,  there  arose 
appreciable  diiferences  in  temperature  between  those  parts 
of  its  surface  more  exposed  to  the  sun  and  those  less 
exposed.  As  the  cooling  progressed,  these  differences 
became  more  pronounced ;  until  there  finally  resulted  those 
marked  contrasts  between  regions  of  perpetual  ice  and 
snow,  regions  where  winter  and  summer  alternately  reign 
for  periods  varying  according  to  the  latitude,  and  regions 
where  summer  follows  summer  with  scarcely  an  appreciable 
variation.  At  the  same  time  the  many  and  varied 
elevations  and  subsidences  of  portions  of  the  Earth's  crust, 
bringing  about  the  present  irregular  distribution  of  land 
and  sea,  have  entailed  modifications  of  climate  beyond  those 
dependent  on  latitude ;  while  a  yet  further  series  of  such 
modifications  have  been  produced  by  increasing  differences 
of  elevation  in  the  laud,  which  have  in  sundry  places 
brought  arctic,  temperate,  and  tropical  climates  to  within 
a  few  miles  of  one  another.  And  the  general  outcome  of 
these  changes  is,  that  not  only  has  every  extensive  region 


14  rROGRESs:   its  law  and  cause. 

its  own  meteorologic  conditions,  but  that  every  locality  in 
each  region  differs  more  or  less  from  others  in  those 
conditions;  as  in  its  structure,  its  contour,  its  soil.  Thus, 
between  our  existing  Earth,  the  phenomena  of  whose  crust 
neither  geographers,  geologists,  mineralogists,  nor  meteoro- 
logists have  yet  enumerated,  and  the  molten  globe  out 
of  which  it  was  evolved,  the  contrast  in  heterogeneity 
is  extreme. 

When  from  the  Earth  itself  we  turn  to  the  plants  and 
animals  which  have  lived,  or  still  live,  upon  its  surface, 
we  find  ourselves  in  some  difficulty  from  lack  of  facts. 
That  every  existing  organism  has  been  developed  out  of  the 
simple  into  the  complex,  is  indeed  the  first  established  truth 
of  all ;  and  that  every  organism  which  existed  in  past  times 
was  similarly  developed,  is  an  inference  no  physiologist 
will  hesitate  to  draw.  But  when  we  pass  from  individual 
forms  of  life  to  Life  in  general,  and  inquire  whether  the 
same  law  is  seen  in  the  ensemble  of  its  manifestations, — • 
whether  modern  plants  and  animals  are  of  more  hetero- 
geneous structure  than  ancient  ones,  and  whether  the 
Earth's  present  Flora  and  Fauna  are  more  heterogeneous 
than  the  Flora  and  Fauna  of  the  past, — we  find  the 
evidence  so  fragmentary,  that  every,  conclusion  is  open  to 
dispute.  Three-fifths  of  the  Earth's  surface  being  covered 
by  water ;  a  great  part  of  the  exposed  land  being  inacces- 
sible to,  or  untravelled  by,  the  geologist ;  the  greater  part 
of  the  remainder  having  been  scarcely  more  than  glanced 
at;  and  even  the  most  familiar  portions,  as  England,  having 
been  so  imperfectly  explored  that  a  new  series  of  strata 
]ias  been  added  within  these  four  years, — it  is  impossible 
for  us  to  say  with  certainty  what  creatures  have,  and  what 
have  not,  existed  at  any  particular  period.  Considering  the 
perishable  nature  of  many  of  the  lower  organic  forms, 
the  metamorphosis  of  numerous  sedimentary  strata,  and 
the  great  gaps  occurring  among  the  rest,  we  shall  see 
further   reason   for   distrusting  our   deductions.      On  the 


PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  15 

one  hand,  the  repeated  discovery  of  vertebrate  remains 
in  strata  previously  supposed  to  contain  none, — of  reptiles 
where  only  fish  were  thought  to  exist, — of  mammals  where 
it  was  believed  there  were  no  creatures  higher  than  reptiles, 
— ^renders  it  daily  more  manifest  how  small  is  the  value  of 
negative  evidence.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Avorthlessness 
of  the  assumption  that  we  have  discovered  the  earliest,  or 
anything  like  the  earliest,  organic  remains,  is  becoming 
equally  clear.  That  the  oldest  known  sedimentary  rocks 
have  been  greatly  changed  by  igneous  action,  and  that 
still  older  ones  have  been  totally  transformed  by  it,  is 
becoming  undeniable.  And  the  fact  that  sedimentary 
strata  earlier  than  any  Ave  know,  have  been  melted  up,  being 
admitted,  it  must  also  be  admitted  that  Ave  cannot  say  how 
far  back  in  time  this  destruction  of  sedimentary  strata  has 
been  going  on.  Thus  the  title  Palceozoic,  as  applied  to 
the  earliest  knoAvn  fossiliferous  strata,  involves  a  petitio 
priiicipii ;  and,  for  aught  Ave  knoAV  to  the  contrary,  only 
the  last  fcAv  chapters  of  the  Earth's  biological  history  may 
have  come  doAvn  to  us.  On  neither  side,  therefore,  is  the 
evidence  conclusive.  Nevertheless  we  cannot  but  think 
that,  scanty  as  they  are,  the  facts,  taken  altogether,  tend  to 
shoAv  both  that  the  more  heterogeneous  organisms  have 
been  evolved  in  the  later  geologic  periods,  and  that  Life  in 
general  has  been  more  heterogeneously  manifested  as  time 
has  advanced.  Let  us  cite,  in  illustration,  the  one  case  of 
the  Vertehrata.  The  earliest  known  vertebrate  remains  are 
those  of  Fishes;  and  Fishes  ai-e  the  most  homogeneous  of 
tlie  vertebrata.  Later  and  more  heterogeneous  are  Rep- 
tiles. Later  still,  and  more  heterogeneous  still,  are  Birds 
aud  Mammals.  If  it  be  said  that  the  Palaeozoic  deposits, 
not  being  estuary  deposits,  are  not  likely  to  contain  the 
remains  of  terrestrial  vertebrata,  Avhich  may  nevertheless 
have  existed  at  that  era,  avo  reply  that  Ave  are  merely 
pointing  to  the  leading  facts,  snrlh  a.s  tliey  are.  But  to 
avoid  any  such  criticism,  let  us  take  the  mammalian  sub- 


^ 


16  PROGRESS  :  ITS  LAW  AND  CAUSE. 

division  only.  The  earliest  known  remains  of  mammal 3 
are  those  of  small  marsupials,  which  are  the  lowest  of  the 
mammalian  type ;  while,  conversely,  the  highest  of  the 
mammalian  type — Man — is  the  most  recent.  The  evidence 
that  the  vertebrate  fauna,  as  a  whole,  has  become  more 
heterogeneous,  is  considerably  stronger.  To  the  argument 
that  the  vertebrate  fauna  of  the  Palaeozoic  period,  consisting, 
so  far  as  we  know,  entirely  of  Fishes,  was  less  hetero- 
geneous than  the  modern  vertebrate  fauna,  which  includes 
Reptiles,  Birds,  and  Mammals,  of  multitudinous  genera,  it 
may  be  replied,  as  before,  that  estuary  deposits  of  the 
Palaeozoic  period,  could  we  find  them,  might  contain  other 
orders  of  vertebrata.  But  no  such  reply  can  be  made  to 
the  argument  that  whereas  the  marine  vertebrata  of  the 
Palaeozoic  period  consisted  entirely  of  cartilaginous  fishes, 
the  marine  vertebrata  of  later  periods  include  numerous 
genera  of  osseous  fishes ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  later 
marine  vertebrate  faunas  are  more  heterogeneous  than  the 
oldest  known  one.  Nor,  again,  can  any  such  reply  be 
made  to  the  fact  that  there  are  far  more  numerous  orders 
and  genera  of  mammalian  remains  in  the  tertiary  forma- 
tions than  in  the  secondary  formations.  Did  we  wish 
merely  to  make  out  the  best  case,  we  might  dwell  upon  the 
opinion  of  Dr.  Carpenter,  who  says  that  "  the  general  facts 
of  Paleeontology  appear  to  sanction  the  belief,  that  the  same 
plan  may  be  traced  out  in  what  may  be  called  the  general 
life  of  the  glohe,  as  in  the  individual  life  of  every  one  of 
the  forms  of  organized  being  which  now  people  it."  Or 
we  might  quote,  as  decisive,  the  judgment  of  Professor 
Owen,  who  holds  that  the  earlier  examples  of  each  group 
of  creatures  severally  departed  less  widely  from  archetypal 
generality  than -the  later  examples — were  severally  less 
unlike  the  fundamental  form  common  to  the  group  as  a 
whole ;  and  thus  constituted  a  less  heterogeneous  group 
of  creatures.  But  in  deference  to  an  authority  for  whom 
we   have    the   highest   respect,   who    considers    that   the 


PKOGKESS  :    ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  17 

evidence    at  present    obtained  does  not  justify  a  verdict 
either  way,  we  are  content  to  leave  the  question  open.^ 

Whether  an  advance  from  the  homogeneous  to  the 
heterogeneous  is  or  is  not  displayed  in  the  biological 
history  of  the  globe,  it  is  clearly  enough  displayed  in  the 
progress  of  the  latest  and  most  heterogeneous  creature — • 
]\Ian.  It  is  true  alike  that,  during  the  period  in  which  the 
Earth  has  been  peopled,  the  human  organism  has  grown 
more  heterogeneous  among  the  civilized  divisions  of 
the  species ;  and  that  the  species,  as  a  whole,  has  been 
growing  more  heterogeneous  in  virtue  of  the  multiplication 
of  races  and  the  differentiation  of  these  races  from  each 
other.  In  proof  of  the  first  of  these  positions,  we  may  cite 
the  fact  that,  in  the  relative  development  of  the  limbs,  the 
civilized  man  departs  more  widely  from  the  general  type 
of  the  placental  mammalia  than  do  the  lower  human  races. 
While  often  possessing  well-developed  body  and  arms,  the 
Australian  has  very  small  legs :  thus  reminding  us  of  the 
chimpanzee  and  the  gorilla,  which  present  no  great  con- 
trasts in  size  between  the  hind  and  fore  limbs.  But  in  the 
European,  the  greater  length  and  massiveness  of  the  legs 
have  become  marked— rthe  fore  and  hind  limbs  are  more 
heterogeneous.  Again,  the  greater  ratio  which  the  cranial 
bones  bear  to  the  facial  bones  illustrates  the  same  truth. 
Among  the  vertebrata  in  general,  progress  is  marked  by 
an  increasing  heterogeneity  in  the  vertebral  column,  and 
more  especially  in  the  segments  constituting  the  skull :  the 
higher  forms  being  distinguished  by  the  relatively  larger 
size  of  the  bones  which  cover  the  brain,  and  the  relatively 


•  Since  this  was  written  (in  1857)  the  advance  of  paleontologicai  dis- 
covery, especially  in  America,  has  sliown  concUisively,  in' respect  of  certain 
groups  of  vertebrates,  that  higher  types  have  arisen  by  modilications  of 
lower ;  so  that,  in  common  with  otiiers.  Prof.  Huxley,  to  whom  the  above 
allusion  is  made,  now  admits,  or  rather  asserts,  biological  progression,  and, 
by  implication,  that  there  have  arisen  more  heterogeneous  organic  forms  and 
t  more  heterogeneous  assemblage  of  organic  forms. 


18  PEOGKESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

smaller  size  of  those  which  form  the  jaws,  &c.     Now  this 
characteristic,  which  is  stronger  in  Man  than  in  any  other 
creature,  is  stronger  in  the  European  than  in  the  savage. 
Moreover,  judging  from  the  greater  extent  and  variety  of 
faculty  he  exhibits,  we  may  infer  that  the  civilized  man 
has  also  a  more  complex  or  heterogeneous  nervous  system 
than  the  uncivilized  man  :  and,  indeed,  the  fact  is  in  part 
visible  in  the  increased  ratio  which  his  cerebrum  bears  to 
the  subjacent  ganglia,  as  well  as  in  the  wider  departure 
from  symmetry  in  its  convolutions.     If  further  elucidation 
be  needed,  we  may  find  it  in  every  nursery.     The   infant 
European  has  sundry  marked  points  of  resemblance  to  the 
lower  human  races ;  as  in  the  flatness  of  the  alee  of  the 
nose,  the    depression    of  its   bridge,   the    divergence    and 
^   *^        forward  opening  of  the  nostrils,  the  form   of  the  lips,  the 
\  ,   X       absence  of  a  frontal  sinus,  the  width  between  the  eyes,  the 
smallness  of  the  legs.     Now,  as  the  developmental  process 
by  which  these  traits  are  turned  into  those   of  the  adult 
V}-"         European,  is  a  continuation  of  that  change  from  the  homo- 
'    -         geneous  to  the  heterogeneous  displayed  during  the  previous 
evolution  of  the  embryo,  which  every  anatomist  will  admit; 
it  follows  that  the  parallel  developmental  process  by  which 
the  like   traits  of  the  barbarous  races  have  been  turned 
o    into  those  of  the  civilized  races,  has  also  been  a  continua- 
f  J^   J  tion  of  the  change  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  hetero- 
jjy  oKK.  geneous.    The  truth  of  the  second  position — that  Mankind, 
^   ...^^  as  a  whole,  have  become  more  heterogeneous — is  so  obvio&s 
as  scarcely  to  need  illustration.     Every  work  on  Ethnology, 
l)y  its  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  races,  bears  testimony 
to  it.     Even  were  we  to  admit  the  hypothesis  that  Man- 
kind originated  from  several  separate  stocks,  it  would  still 
remain  true,   that  as,   from    each    of   these    stocks,    there 
have  sprung   many  now  widely-different  tribes,  which  are 
proved  by  philological  evidence   to  have  had    a  common 
origin,  the  race  as  a  whole  is  far  less  homogeneous  than  it 
once  was.     Add  to  which,  that   we  have,  in  the  Anglo- 


PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  19 

AmerlcanF,,  an  example  of  a  new  variety  arising  witliiu 
these  few  generations ;  and  that,  if  we  may  trust  to  the 
descriptions  of  observers,  we  are  likely  soon  to  liavo 
another  suck  example  in  Australia. 

On  passing  from  Humanity  under  its  individual  form,  to 
Humanity  as  socially  embodied,  we  find  the  general  law  ><\ 
still  more  variously  exemplified.  The  change  from  the  ^^  ,  .  \ 
homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous  is  displayed  in  the 
progress  of  civilization  as  a  whole,  as  well  as  in  the 
progress  of  every  nation ;  and  is  still  going  on  with 
increasing  rapidity.  As  we  see  in  existing  barbarous 
tribes,  society  in  its  first  and  lowest  form  is  a  homogeneous 
aggregation  of  individuals  having  like  powers  and  like 
functions  :  the  only  marked  difference  of  function  being 
that  which  accompanies  difference  of  sex.  Every  man 
is  warrior,  hunter,  fisherman,  tool-maker,  builder ;  every 
woman  performs  the  same  drudgeries.  Very  early, 
however,  in  the  course  of  social  evolution,  there  arises 
an  incipient  differentiation  between  the  governing  and  the 
governed.  Some  kind  of  chieftainship  seems  coeval  with 
the  first  advance  from  the  state  of  separate  wandering 
families  to  that  of  a  nomadic  tribe.  The  authority  of 
the  strongest  or  the  most  cunning  makes  itself  felt  among 
a  body  of  savages  as  in  a  herd  of  animals,  or  a  posse  of 
schoolboys.  At  first,  however,  it  is  indefinite,  uncertain; 
is  shared  by  others  of  scarcely  inferior  power;  and  is 
unaccompanied  by  any  difference  in  occupation  or  style  of 
living:  the  first  ruler  kills  his  own  game,  makes  his  own 
weapons,  builds  his  own  hut,  and,  economically  considered, 
does  not  differ  from  others  of  his  tribe.  Gradually,  as  the 
tribe  progresses,  the  contrast  between  the  governing  and 
the  governed  grows  more  decided.  Supreme  power 
becomes  hereditary  in  one  family ;  the  head  of  that  family, 
ceasing  to  provide  for  his  own  wants,  is  served  by  others ; 
and  he  begins  to  assume  the  sole  office  of  ruling.  At  the 
same  time  there  has  been  arising  a  co-ordinate  species  of 


20  PROQEESS  :    ITS   LAW   AND   CAUSE. 

government — that  of  Religion.  As  all  ancient  records  and 
traditions  prove,  the  earliest  rulers  are  regarded  as  divine 
personages.  The  maxims  and  commands  they  uttered 
during  their  lives  are  held  sacred  after  their  deaths,  and 
are  enforced  by  their  divinely-descended  successors ;  who 
in  their  turns  are  promoted  to  the  pantheon  of  the  race, 
here  to  be  worshipped  and  propitiated  along  with  their 
predecessors  :  the  most  ancient  of  whom  is  the  supreme 
god,  and  the  rest  subordinate  gods.  For  a  long  time 
these  connate  forms  of  government — civil  and  religious — 
remain  closely  associated.  For  many  generations  the  king 
continues  to  be  the  chief  priest,  and  the  priesthood  to  bo 
members  of  the  royal  race.  For  many  ages  religious  law 
continues  to  include  more  or  less  of  civil  regulation,  and 
civil  law  to  possess  more  or  less  of  religious  sanction  ;  and 
even  among  the  most  advanced  nations  these  two  controlling 
agencies  are  by  no  means  completely  separated  from  each 
other.  Having  a  common  root  with  these,  and  gradually 
diverging  from  them,  we  find  yet  another  controlling 
agency — that  of  Ceremonial  usages.  All  titles  of  honour 
are  originally  the  names  of  the  god-king;  afterwards  of 
the  god  and  the  king  ;  still  later  of  persons  of  high  rank  ; 
and  finally  come,  some  of  them,  to  be  used  between  man 
and  man.  All  forms  of  complimentary  address  were  at 
first  the  expressions  of  submission  from  prisoners  to  their 
conqueror,  or  from  subjects  to  their  ruler,  either  human  or 
divine — expressions  which  were  afterwards  used  to  propitiate 
subordinate  authorities,  and  slowly  descended  into  ordinary 
intercourse.  All  modes  of  salutation  were  once  obeisances 
made  before  the  monarch  and  used  in  worship  of  him  after 
his  death.  Presently  others  of  the  god-descended  race 
were  similarly  saluted;  and  by  degrees  some  of  the 
salutations  have  become  the  due  of  all.*  Thus,  no  sooner 
does  the  originally-homogeneous   social  mass  differentiate 

•  Por  detailed  proof  of  these  assertions  see  essay  on  "  Manners  and  Fashion." 


PEOGEESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSK.  21 

into  the  governed  and  the  governing  parts,  than  this  last 
exhibits  an  incipient  differentiation  into  reh'gious  and 
secular — Church  and  State ;  while  at  the  same  time  there 
begins  to  be  differentiated  from  both,  that  less  definite 
species  of  government  which  rules  our  daily  intercourse — 
a  species  of  government  which,  as  we  may  see  in  heralds' 
colleges,  in  books  of  the  peerage,  in  masters  of  ceremonies, 
is  not  without  a  certain  embodiment  of  its  own.  Each  of 
these  is  itself  subject  to  successive  differentiations.  In  the 
course  of  ages,  there  arises,  as  among  ourselves,  a  highly 
complex  political  organization  of  monarch,  ministers,  lords 
and  commons,  with  their  subordinate  administrative  depart- 
ments, courts  of  justice,  revenue  offices,  &c.,  supplemented 
in  the  provinces  by  municipal  governments,  county  govern- 
ments, parish  or  union  governments — all  of  them  more  or 
less  elaborated.  By  its  side  there  grows  up  a  highly 
complex  religious  organization,  with  its  various  grades  of 
officials,  from  archbishops  down  to  sextons,  its  colleges, 
convocations,  ecclesiastical  courts,  &c. ;  to  all  which  must 
be  added  the  ever-multiplying  independent  sects,  each  with 
its  general  and  local  authorities.  And  at  the  same  time 
there  is  developed  a  highly  complex  aggregation  of  customs, 
manners,  and  temporaiy  fashions,  enforced  by  society  at 
large,  and  serving  to  control  those  minor  transactions 
between  man  and  man  which  are  not  regulated  by  civil 
and  religious  law.  Moreover,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  this 
increasing  heterogeenity  in  the  governmental  appliances  of 
each  nation,  has  been  accompanied  by  an  increasing 
heterogeneity  in  the  assemblage  of  governmental  appliances 
of  different  nations :  all  nations  being  more  or  less  unlike 
in  their  political  systems  and  legislation,  in  their  creeds  and 
religious  institutions,  in  their  customs  and  ceremonial  usages. 
^'  Simultaneously  there  has  been  going  on  a  second 
*  differentiation  of  a  more  familiar  kind;  that,  namely,  by 
'  which  the  mass  of  the  commnnity  has  been  segregated 
into   distinct  classes  and  orders  of  workeris.      While   the 


22  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

governing  part  lias  undergone  the  complex  developraent 
above  detailed,  the  governed  part  has  undergone  a:n 
equally  complex  development,  which  has  resulted  in  that 
minute  division  of  labour  characterizing  advanced  nations. 
It  is  needless  to  trace  out  this  progress  from  its  first  stages, 
up*  through  the  caste-divisions  of  the  East  and  the  incoi'- 
pcrated  guilds  of  Europe,  to  the  elaborate  producing  and 
distributing  organization  existing  among  ourselves.  It 
has  been  an  evolution  which,  beginning  with  a  tribe  Avhose 
members  severally  perform  the  same  actions  each  for 
himself,  ends  with  a  civilized  community  whose  members 
severally  perform  different  actions  for  each  other  ;  and  an 
evolution  w^hich  has  transformed  the  solitary  producer  of 
any  one  commodity  into  a  combination  of  producers  who, 
united  under  a  master,  take  separate  parts  in  the  manu- 
factui^e  of  such  commodity.  But  there  are  yet  other  and 
higher  phases  of  this  advance  from  the  homogeneous  to  the 
heterogeneous  in  the  industrial  organization  of  society. 
Long  after  considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
division  of  labour  among  different  classes  of  workers,  there 
is  still  little  or  no  division  of  labour  among  the  widely 
separated  parts  of  the  community  :  the  nation  continues 
comparatively  homogeneous  in  the  respect  that  in  each 
district  the  same  occupations  are  pursued.  But  when 
roads  and  other  means  of  transit  become  numerous  and 
good,  the  different  districts  begin  to  assume  different 
functions,  and  to  become  mutually  dependent.  The  calico 
manufacture  locates  itself  in  this  county,  the  woollen-cloth 
manufacture  in  that ;  silks  are  produced  here,  lace  there ; 
stockings  in  one  place,  shoes  in  another;  pottery,  hardware, 
cutlery,  come  to  have  their  special  towns ;  and  ultimately 
every  locality  becomes  more  or  less  distinguished  from  the 
rest  by  the  leading  occupation  carried  on  in  it.  This  sub- 
division of  functions  shows  itself  not  only  among  the  different 
parts  of  the  same  nation,  but  among  different  nations. 
That  exchange  of  commodities  which  free-trade  is  increasing 


PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW  AND    CAUSE.  23 

SO  largely,  will  ultimately  have  the  effect  of  specializing, 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  the  industry  of  each  people. 
So  that,  beginning  with  a  barbarous  tribe,  almost  if  not 
quite  homogeneous  in  the  functions  of  its  members,  the 
progress  has  been,  and  still  is,  towards  an  economic  ^ 
aggregation  of  the  whole  human  race ;  growing  ever  more 
heterogeneous  in  respect  of  the  separate  functions  assumed 
by  separate  nations,  the  separate  functions  assumed  by  the 
local  sections  of  each  nation,  the  separate  functions  assumed 
by  the  many  kinds  of  makers  and  traders  in  each  town,  and 
the  separate  functions  assumed  by  the  workers  united  in 
producing  each  commodity. 

The  law  thus  clearly  exemplified  in  the  evolution  of  the 
social  organism,  is  exemplified  with  equal  clearness  in  the 
evolution  of  all  products  of  human  thought  and  action; 
whether  concrete  or  abstract,  real  or  ideal.  Let  us  take 
Language  as  our  first  illustration. 

The  lowest  form  of  language  is  the  exclamation,  by 
which  an  entire  idea  is  vaguely  conveyed  through  a  single 
sound,  as  among  the  lower  animals.  That  human  language 
ever  consisted  solely  of  exclamations,  and  so  was  strictly 
homogeneous  in  respect  of  its  parts  of  speech,  we  have  no 
evidence.  But  that  language  can  be  traced  down  to  a  form  in 
which  nouns  and  verbs  are  its  only  elements,  is  an  estab- 
lished fact.  In  the  gradual  multiplication  of  parts  of  speech 
out  of  these  primary  ones — in  the  differentiation  of  verbs 
Into  activ3  and  passive,  of  nouns  into  abstract  and  concrete 
— in  the  rise  of  distinctions  of  mood,  tense,  person,  of 
number  and  case — in  the  formation  of  auxiliary  verbs,  of 
adjectives,  adverbs,  pronouns,  prepositions,  articles — in  the 
divergence  of  those  orders,  genera,  species,  and  varieties  of 
parts  of  speech  by  which  civilized  races  express  minute 
modifications  of  meaning — we  see  a  change  from  the  homo- 
geneous to  the  heterogeneous.  Another  aspect  under 
which  we  may  trace  the  development  of  language  is  tho 
divergence  of  words  having  common  origins.  Philology 
3 


24  PEOGPESS  :      ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

early  disclosed  the  ti'utli  that  in  all  languages  words  maybe 
grouped  into  families,  the  members  of  each  of  which  are 
allied  by  their  derivation.  Names  springing  from  a  priiai- 
tive  root,  themselves  become  the  parents  of  other  na^jcs 
Btill  further  modified.  And  by  the  aid  of  those  systematic 
modes  which  presently  arise,  of  making  derivatives  a^d 
forming  compound  terms,  there  is  finally  developed  a 
tribe  of  words  so  heterogreneous  in  sound  and  meanincr, 
that  to  the  uninitiated  it  seems  incredible  they  should  be 
nearly  related.  Meanwhile  from  other  roots  there  are 
being  evolved  other  such  tribes,  until  there  results  a 
language  of  some  sixty  thousand  or  more  unlike  words, 
signifying  as  many  unlike  objects,  qualities,  acts.  Yet 
another  way  in  which  language  in  general  advances  from 
the  homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous,  is  in  the  multiplica- 
tion of  languages.  Whether  all  languages  have  grown 
from  one  stock,  or  whether,  as  some  philologists  think,  they 
have  grown  from  two  or  more  stocks,  it  is  clear  that  since 
large  groups  of  languages,  as  the  ludo-European,  are  of 
one  parentage,  they  have  become  distinct  through  a  process 
of  continuous  divergence.  The  same  diffusion  over  the 
Earth's  surface  which  has  led  to  differentiations  of  race, 
has  simultaneously  led  to  differentiations  of  speech :  a 
truth  which  we  see  further  illustrated  in  each  nation  by 
the  distinct  dialects  found  in  separate  districts.  Thus  the 
progress  of  Language  conforms  to  the  general  law,  alike  in 
the  evolution  of  languages,  in  the  evolution  of  families  of 
words,  and  in  the  evolution  of  parts  of  speech. 

On  passing  from  spoken  to  written  language,  we  corao 
upc)n  several  classes  of  facts,  having  similar  implications. 
Written  language  is  connate  with  Painting  and  Sculpture ; 
and  at  first  all  three  are  appendages  of  Architecture,  and 
have  a  direct  connection  with  the  primary  form  of  all 
Government — the  theocratic.  Merely  noting  by  the  way 
the  fact  that  sundry  wild  races,  as  for  example  the  Austra- 
lians and  the  ti-ibes  of  South  Africa,  are  given  to  depicting 


PROGUESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  25 

personages  and  events  upon  tlie  walls  of  caves^  wliicli  are 
])i"obably  regarded  as  sacred  places,  let  us  pass  to  tlie  case 
of  the  Egyptians.  Among  them,  as  also  among  the 
Assyrians,  we  find  mural  paintings  used  to  decorate  the 
temple  of  the  god  and  the  palace  of  the  king  (which  were, 
indeed,  originally  identical)  ;  and  as  such  they  were  govern- 
mental appliances  in  the  same  sense  as  state-pageanta 
and  religious  feasts  were.  They  Avere  governmental 
appliances  in  another  way  :  representing  ?.s  they  did  the 
worship  of  the  god,  the  triumphs  of  the  god-king,  the  sub- 
mission of  his  subjects,  and  the  punishment  of  the  rebellious. 
Further,  they  were  governmental,  as  being  the  products 
of  an  art  reverenced  by  the  people  as  a  sacred  mystery. 
From  the  habitual  use  of  this  pictorial  representation, 
there  grew  up  the  but-slightly-modified  practice  of  picture- 
writing — a  practice  which  was  found  still  extant  among 
North  American  peoples  at  the  time  they  were  discovered. 
By  abbi^eviations  analogous  to  those  still  going  on  in  our  own 
written  language,  the  most  frequently-recurring  of  these 
pictured  figures  were  succct;sively  simplified;  and  ultimately 
there  grew  up  a  system  of  symbols,  most  of  which  had  but 
distant  resemblances  to  the  things  for  which  they  stood. 
The  inference  that  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  Egyptians  were 
thus  produced,  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  picture- 
writing  of  the  Mexicans  was  found  to  have  given  birth  to 
a  like  family  of  ideographic  forms ;  and  among  them,  as 
among  the  Egyptians,  these  had  been  partially  differentiated 
into  the  kuriological  or  imitative,  and  the  tropical  or 
Bymbolic ;  which  were,  howevei',  used  together  in  the 
fiamc  record.  In  Egypt,  written  language  underwent  a 
further  differentiation,  whence  resulted  the  hieratic  and 
the  episf olographic  or  encJiorial ;  both  of  which  are  derived 
from  the  original  hieroglyphic.  At  the  same  time  we  find 
that  for  the  expression  of  proper  names,  which  could  not  be 
otherwise  conveyed,  signs  having  phonetic  values  were 
employed;    and  though   it  is  alleged  that  the   Egyptians 


26  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE. 

never  acMeved  complete  alphabetic  writing-,  yet  it  can 
scarcely  be  doubted  that  these  phonetic  symbols,  occasionally 
used  in  aid  of  their  ideographic  ones,  were  the  germs  of  an 
alphabetic  system.  Once  having  become  separate  from 
hisroglyphics,  alphabetic  Avriting  itself  underwent  numerous 
differentiations  —  multiplied  alphabets  were  produced  ; 
between  most  of  which,  however,  more  or  less  connection 
can  still  be  traced.  And  in  each  cirilized  nation  there  has 
now  grown  up,  for  the  representation  of  one  set  of  sounds, 
several  sets  of  written  signs  used  for  distinct  purposes. 
Finally,  from  writing  diverged  printing;  which,  uniform 
in  kind  as  it  was  at  first,  has  since  become  multiform. 

While  written  language  was  passing  through  its  first 
stages  of  development,  the  mural  decoration  which  con- 
tained its  root  was  being  differentiated  into  Painting  and 
Sculpture.  The  gods,  kings,  men,  and  animals  represented, 
were  originally  marked  by  indented  outlines  and  coloured. 
In  most  cases  these  outlines  were  of  such  depth,  and  the 
object  they  circumscribed  so  far  rounded  and  mai^ked  out 
in  its  leading  parts,  as  to  form  a  species  of  work  inter- 
mediate between  intaglio  and  bas-relief.  In  other  cases 
we  see  an  advance  upon  this :  the  raised  spaces  between 
the  figures  being  chiselled  off,  and  the  figures  themselves 
appropriately  tinted,  a  painted  bas-relief  was  produced. 
Tlie  restored  Assyrian  architecture  at  Sydenham  exhibits 
this  style  of  art  carried  to  greater  perfection — the  persons 
and  things  represented,  though  still  barbarously  coloured, 
are  carved  out  with  more  truth  and  in  greater  detail :  and 
in  the  winged  lions  and  bulls  used  for  the  angles  of 
gateways,  we  may  see  a  considerable  advance  towards  a 
completely  sculptured  figure;  which,  nevertheless,  is  still 
coloured,  and  still  forms  part  of  the  building.  But  while 
in  Assyria  the  production  of  a  statue  proper  seems  to  have 
been  little,  if  at  all,  attempted,  we  may  trace  in  Egyptian 
art  the  gradual  separation  of  the  sculptured  figure  from 
the  wall.     A  walk  throuo-h  the  collection  in  the  British 


PROGRESS:     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  27 

Museum  sliows  this ;  while  at  the  same  time  it  affords  an 
opportunity  of  observing  the  traces  which  the  independent 
statues  bear  of  their  derivation  from  bas-relief  :  seeing 
that  nearly  all  of  them  not  only  display  that  fusion  of  the 
legs  with  one  another  and  of  the  arms  with  the  body  which 
is  charactei'istic  of  bas-relief,  but  have  the  back  united  from 
head  to  foot  with  a  block  which  stands  in  place  of  the 
original  wall.  Greece  repeated  the  leading  stages  of  this 
progress.  On  the  friezes  of  Greek  Temples,  were  coloured 
bas-reliefs  representing  sacrifices,  battles,  processions, 
games — all  in  some  sort  religious.  The  pediments  contained 
painted  sculptures  more  or  less  united  with  the  tympanum, 
and  having  for  subjects  the  triumphs  of  gods  or  heroes. 
Even  statues  definitely  separated  from  buildings  were 
coloured ;  and  only  in  the  later  periods  of  Greek  civilization 
does  the  differentiation  of  Sculpture  from  Painting  appear 
to  have  become  complete.  In  Christian  art  we  may  trace 
a  parallel  re-genesis.  All  early  works  of  art  tliroughout 
Europe  were  religious  in  subject — represented  Christs, 
crucifixions,  virgins,  holy  families,  apostles,  saints.  They 
formed  integral  parts  of  church  architecture,  and  were 
among  the  means  of  exciting  worship ;  as  in  Roman 
Catholic  countries  they  still  are.  Moreover,  the  sculptured 
figures  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  of  virgins,  of  saints,  were 
coloured;  and  it  needs  but  to  call  to  mind  the  painted 
madonnas  still  abundant  in  continental  churches  and 
highways,  to  perceive  the  significant  fact  that  Painting  and 
Sculpture  continue  in  closest  connection  with  each  other 
w^here  they  continue  in  closest  connection  with  their  parent. 
Even  when  Christian  sculpture  became  differentiated  from 
painting,  it  was  still  religious  and  governmental  in  its 
subjects — was  used  for  tombs  in  churches  and  statues  of 
kings;  while,  at  the  same  time,  painting,  where  not 
purely  ecclesiastical,  was  applied  to  the  decoration  of 
palaces,  and  besides  representing  royal  personages,  waa 
mostly  devoted  to  sacred  legends.     Only  in  recent  times 


Zq  progress:     its    law    and    Ci\USE. 

liave  painting    and    sculptiii^G  become   quiio  separate  and 

mainly   secular.       Only   within    these    few    centuries    has 

Painting  been  divided  into  historical,  landscape,  marine, 

architectural,  genre,  animal,  still-life,  &c. ;    and  Sculpture 

grown  heterogeneous  in  respect  of  the  variety  of  real  and 

ideal  subjects  witli  which  it  occupies  itself. 

/-     Strange    as    it   seems   then,  we  find  that  all   forms    of 

\  written  language,  of  Painting,  and  of   Sculpture,  have   a 

common  root  in  the  politico-religious  decorations  of"  ancient 

temples  and    palaces.       Little    resemblance    as    they   now 

have,  the  landscape  that  h;ings  against  the  wall,  and  the 

copy  of  the  Times  lying  on  the  table,  are  remotely  akin. 

The  brazen  face  of  the  knocker  which  the  postman  has  just 

lifted,  is  related  not  only  to  the  woodcuts  of  the  Illustrated 

London  News  which  he  is  delivering,  but  to  the  characters 

of   the    billet-doux   which   accompanies   it.      Between   the 

I    painted  window,  the  prayer-book  on  which  its  light  falls, 

and  the  adjacent  monument,  there  is  consanguinity.     The 

effigies  on  our  coins,  the  signs  over  shops,  the  coat  of  arms 

outside  the  carriage  panel,    and  the   placards   inside    the 

omnibus,  are,  in  common  with  dolls  and  paper-hangings, 

lineally  descended    from  the    rude    sculpture-paintings    in 

which  ancient  peoples  represented  the  triumphs  and  wor- 

I     ship  of  their  god-kings.     Perhaps  no  example  can  be  given 

'■     which  more  vividly  illustrates  the  multiplicity  and  hetero- 

i     geneity  of  the  products  that  in  course  of  time  may  arise  by 

\  successive  differentiations  froru  a  common  stock. 

Before  passing  to  other  classes  of  facts,  it  should  bo 
observed  that  the  evolution  of  the  homogeneous  into  the 
lieterogeneous  is  displayed  not  only  in  the  separation  of 
Painting  and  Sculpture  from  Architecture  and  from  each 
other,  and  in  the  greater  variety  of  subjects  they  embody, 
buu  it  is  further  shown  in  the  structure  of  each  woi-k. 
A  modern  picture  or  statue  is  of  far  more  heterogeneous 
nature  thau  an  ancient  one.  An  Egyptian  sculpture-fresco 
usually  represents  all  its  figui'es  as  at  the  tame   distancQ 


PKOGKESS  :      ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  29 

from  the  eye  ;  and  so  is  less  heterogeneous  than  a  painting 
Ihat  represents  them  as  at  various  distances  from  the  eye. 
It  exhibits  all  objects  as  exposed  to  the  same  degree  of 
light ;  and  so  is  less  hetei'ogeueous  thaa  a  painting  which 
exhibits  its  different  objects  and  different  parts  of  each 
object  as  in  different  degrees  of  light.  It  uses  chiefly  the 
primary  colours,  and  these  in  their  full  intensities;  and  so 
is  less  heterogeneous  than  a  painting  which,  introducing 
the  primary  colours  but  sparingly,  employs  numerous  in- 
termediate tints,  each  of  heterogeneous  composition,  and 
differing  from  the  rest  not  only  in  quality  but  in  strength. 
Moreover,  we  see  in  these  early  works  great  uniformity  of 
conception.  The  same  arrangement  of  figures  is  perpetually 
reproduced — the  same  actions,  attitudes,  faces,  dresses.  In 
Egypt  the  modes  of  representation  were  so  fixed  that  it  was 
sacrilege  to  introduce  a  novelty.  The  Assyrian  bas-reliefs 
display  parallel  characters.  Deities,  kings,  attendants,' 
winged-figures  and  animals,  are  time  after  time  depicted  iu 
like  positions,  holding  like  implements,  doing  like  things, 
and  with  like  expression  or  non-expression  of  face.  If  a 
palm-grove  is  introduced,  all  the  trees  are  of  the  same 
height,  have  the  same  number  of  leaves,  and  are  equidistant. 
When  water  is  imitated,  each  wave  is  a  counterpart  of  the 
rest;  and  the  fish,  almost  always  of  one  kind,  are  evenly 
distributed  over  the  surface.  The  beards  of  the  kings,  the 
gods,  and  the  winged-figui-es,  are  everywhere  similar;  as 
are  the  manes  of  the  lions,  and  equally  so  those  of  the 
horses.  Hair  is  represented  throughout  by  one  form  of 
cui-l.  The  king's  beard  is  quite  architecturnlly  built  up  of 
comj)ound  tiers  of  uniform  curls,  alternating  with  twisted 
tiers  placed  in  a  transverse  direction,  and  arranged  with 
perfect  regularity  ;  and  the  terminal  tufts  of  the  bulls'  tails 
are  represented  in  exactly  the  sainc;  manner.  Without 
tracing  out  analogDUS  facts  in  early  Christian  art,  in  which, 
though  less  striking,  they  are  still  visibk^,  the  advance  iu 
heterogeneity  will  be  sulliciently  nianit'est  on  remembering 


30  niOGRESS  :    ITS     LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

that  in  tlie  pictures  of  our  own  day  the  composition  is  end- 
lessly varied;  the  attitudes,  faces,  expressions,  unlike;  the 
subordinate  objects  different  in  sizes,  forms,  textures;  and 
more  or  less  of  contrast  even  in  the  smallest  details.  Or, 
if  we  compare  an  Egyptian  statue,  seated  bolt  upright  on  a 
block,  with  hands  on  knees,  fingers  parallel,  eyes  looking 
straight  forward,  and  the  two  sides  perfectly  symmetrical  in 
every  particular,  with  a  statue  of  the  advanced  Greek  school 
or  the  modern  school,  which  is  asymmetrical  in  respect  of 
the  attitude  of  the  head,  the  body,  the  limbs,  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  hair,  dress,  appendages,  and  in  its  relations  to 
neighbouring  objects,  we  shall  see  the  change  from  the 
homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous  clearly  manifested. 

In  the  co-ordinate  origin  and  gradual  diiferentiation  of 
Poetry,  Music,  and  Dancing,  we  have  another  series  of  illus- 
trations. Rhythm  in  words,  rhythm  in  sounds,  and  rhythm 
in  motions,  were  in  the  beginning  parts  of  the  same  thing, 
and  have  only  in  process  of  time  become  separate  things. 
Among-  existiner  barbarous  tribes  we  find  them  still  united. 
The  dances  of  savages  are  accompanied  by  some  kind  of 
monotonous  chant,  the  clapping  of  hands,  the  striking  of 
rude  instruments  :  there  are  measured  movements,  mea- 
sured words,  and  measured  tones.  The  early  records  of 
historic  races  similarly  show  these  three  forms  of  metrical 
action  united  in  religious  festivals.  In  the  Hebrew  writings 
we  read  that  the  triumphal  ode  composed  by  Moses  on  the 
defeat  of  tlie  Egyptians,  was  sung  to  an  accompaniment  of 
dancing  and  timbrels.  The  Israelites  danced  and  sung 
"  at  the  inauguration  of  the  golden  calf.  And  as  it  is 
generally  agreed  that  this  representation  of  the  Deity  was 
borrowed  from  the  mysteries  of  Apis,  it  is  probable  that  the 
dancing  was  copied  from  that  of  the  Egyptians  on  those 
occasions."  Again,  in  Greece  the  like  relation  is  every- 
where seen :  the  original  type  being  there,  as  probably  in 
other  cases,  a  simultaneous  chanting  and  mimetic  represen- 
tation of  the  life  and  adventures  of  the  hero  or  the  god. 


PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  81 

The  Spartan  dances  were  accompanied  by  hymns  and 
songs;  and  in  general  the  Greeks  had  "no  festivals  or 
religious  assemblies  but  what  were  accompanied  with  songs 
and  dances  " — both  of  them  being  forms  of  worship  used 
before  altars.  Among  the  Romans,  too,  there  were  sacied 
dances :  the  Salian  and  Lupercalian  being  named  as  of 
that  kind.  And  even  in  Christian  countries,  as  at  Limoges, 
in  comparatively  recent  times,  the  people  have  danced  iu 
the  choir  in  honour  of  a  saint.  The  incipient  separation 
of  these  once-united  arts  from  each  other  and  from  religion, 
was  early  visible  in  Greece.  Probably  diverging  from 
dances  partly  religious,  partly  warlike,  as  the  Corybantian, 
came  the  war-dances  proper,  of  which  there  were  various 
kinds.  Meanwhile  Music  and  Poetry,  though  still  united, 
came  to  have  an  existence  separate  from  Dancing.  The 
primitive  Greek  poems,  religious  in  subject,  were  not  recited 
but  chanted ;  and  though  at  first  the  chant  of  the  poet  was 
accompanied  by  the  dance  of  the  chorus,  it  ultimately  grew 
into  independence.  Later  still,  when  the  poem  had  been 
differentiated  into  epic  and  lyric — when  it  became  the  cus- 
tom to  sing  the  lyric  and  recite  the  epic — poetry  proper  was 
born.  As  during  the  same  period  musical  instruments  were 
being  multiplied,  we  may  presume  that  music  came  to  have 
an  existence  apart  from  words.  And  both  of  them  were 
beginning  to  assume  other  forms  besides  the  religious. 
Facts  having  like  implications  might  be  cited  from  the 
histories  of  later  times  and  peoples  ;  as  the  practices  of 
our  own  early  minstrels,  who  sang  to  the  harp  heroic  narra- 
tives versified  by  themselves  to  music  of  their  own  composi- 
tion :  thus  uniting  the  now  separate  ofiices  of  poet,  composer, 
vocalist,  and  instrumentalist.  But,  without  further  illus- 
tration, the  common  origin  a,nd  gradual  differentiation  of 
Dancing,  Poetry,  and  Music  will  be  sufficiently  manifest. 

The  advance  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous 
is  displayed  not  only  in  the  separation  of  these  arts  from 
each  other  and  from  religion,  but  also  in  the  multiplied 


82  PEOGUESS  :    ITS    r.AW    AND    CAUSE. 

diffcrontiations  wliich  eacii  of  them  afterwords  nndorgoes. 
Not  to  dwell  upon  the  numberless  kinds  of  dancing  that 
have,  in  course  of  time,  come  into  use:  and  not  to  occupy 
space  in  detailing  the  progress  of  poetry,  as  seen  in  tho 
development  of  the  various  forms  of  metre,  of  rhyme, 
and  of  general  organization;  let  us  confine  our  attention 
to  music  as  a  type  of  the  group.  As  implied  by  the 
customs  of  still  extant  barbarous  races,  the  first  musical 
instruments  were,  without  doubt,  percussive  —  sticks, 
calabashes,  tom-toms — and  were  used  simply  to  mark  the 
time  of  the  dance ;  and  in  this  constant  repetition  of  the 
same  sound,  we  see  music  in  its  most  homogeneous  form. 
The  Egyptians  had  a  lyre  with  three  strings.  The  early 
lyre  of  the  Greeks  had  four,  constituting  their  tetrachord. 
In  course  of  some  centuries  lyres  of  seven  and  eight  strings 
were  employed;  and,  by  the  expiration  of  a  thousand 
years,  they  had  advanced  to  their  "  great  system "  of  the 
double  octave.  Through  all  which  changes  there  of  course 
arose  a  greater  heterogeneity  of  melody.  Simultaneously 
there  came  into  use  the  different  modes — Dorian,  Ionian, 
Phrygian,  u35olian,  and  Lydian — answering  to  our  keys ;  and 
of  these  there  were  ultimately  fifteen.  As  yet,  however, 
there  was  but  little  heterogeneity  in  the  time  of  their  music. 
Instrumental  music  being  at  first  merely  the  accompaniment 
of  vocal  music,  and  vocal  music  being  subordinated  to 
words, — the  singer  being  also  tho  poet,  chanting  his  own 
compositions  and  making  tlie  lengths  of  his  notes  agree 
with  the  feet  of  his  verses, — there  resulted  a  tiresome 
uniformity  of  measure,  which,  as  Dr.  Burney  says,  "no 
resources  of  melody  could  disguise."  Lacking  the  complex 
rhythm  obtained  by  our  equal  bars  and  unequal  notes,  the 
only  I'hythm  was  that  produced  by  the  quantity  of  the 
syllables,  and  was  of  necessity  comparatively  monotonous. 
Andfurther,  it  maybe  observed  that  the  chant  thus  resulting, 
being  like  recitative,  Avas  much  less  clearly  differentiated 
from  ordinary  speech  than  is   our  modern  song.     Never- 


PUOGRESS  :    ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  o3 

tlioloss,  in  virfcue  of  tlie  extended  range  of  notes  in  use,  tlie 
variety  of  modes,  the  occasional  variations   of  time  conse- 
quent   on    changes    of    metre,    and    the    multiplication   of 
instruments,  music  had,  towards  the  close  of  Greek  civiliza- 
tion, attained  to  considerable  heterogeneity — not  indeed  as 
compared  with  our  music,  but  as  compared  with  that  which 
preceded  it.      Still,    there    existed    nothing    but   melody : 
harmony  was  unknown.     It  was  not  until  Christian  church- 
music  had  reached  some  development,  that  music  in  parts 
was  evolved;  and  then   it  came  into  existence  through  a 
very  unobtrusive  differentiation.     Difficult  as  it  may  be  to 
conceive  a  'priori  how  the  advance  from  melody  to  harmony 
could  take  place  without  a  sudden  leap,  it  is  none  the  less 
true  that  it  did  so.     The  circumstance  which  prepared  the 
way    for   it   was    the  employment   of   two    choirs  singiiig 
alternately  the  same  air.     Afterwards  it  beca,me  the  prac- 
tice— very  possibly  first  suggested  by  a  mistake — for  the 
second  choir  to  commence  before  the  first  had  ceased;  thus 
producing  a  fugue.     With  the  simple  airs  then  in  use,  a 
partially-harmonious    fugue    might    not    improbably   thus 
result :  and  a  very  partially-harmonious  fugue  satisfied  the 
ears  of  that  age,  as  we  know  from  still  preserved  examples. 
The  idea  having  once  been  given,  the   composing  of  airs 
productive   of    fugal   harmony  would    naturally  grow  up, 
;is  in  some  way  it  did  grow  up,  out  of  this  alternate  choir- 
singing.     And  from  the  fugue  to  concerted  music  of  two, 
tliree,    four,    and   more   parts,    the    transition    was    easy. 
AVithout  pointing  out  in  detail  the  increasing  complexity 
lliat  resulted   fi'om   introducing  notes   of  various  lengths, 
from  the  multiplication  of  keys,  from  the  use  of  accidentals, 
from  varieties  of  time,  and  so  forth,  it  needs  but  to  contrast 
music  as  it  is,  with  music  as  it  was,  to  see  how  immense  is 
the  increase  of  heterogeneity.      We  see  lliis  if,  looking  at 
music    in    its   ensemble,   we   enumerate  its   many   different 
genera  and  species — if  we  consider  tlie  divisions  into  vocal, 
instrumental,  and  mixed;  and  tlicir  subdivisions  into  music 


34  PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

for  different  voices  and  different  instruments — if  "we  observe 
the  many  forms  of  sacred  music,  from  the  simple  hymn, 
the  chant,  the  canon,  motet,  anthem,  &c.,  up  to  the  oratorio; 
and  tile  still  more  numerous  forms  of  secular  music,  from 
the  ballad  up  to  the  serenata,  from  the  instrumental  solo  up 
to  the  symphony.  Again,  the  same  truth  is  seen  on  com- 
paring any  one  sample  of  aboriginal  music  with  a  sample 
of  modern  music — even  an  ordinary  song  for  the  piano ; 
which  we  find  to  be  relatively  very  heterogeneous,  not  only 
in  respect  of  the  variety  in  the  pitches  and  in  the  lengths 
of  the  notes,  the  number  of  different  notes  sounding  at  the 
same  instant  in  company  with  the  voice,  and  the  variations 
of  strength  with  which  they  are  sounded  and  sung,  but  in 
respect  of  the  changes  of  key,  the  changes  of  time,  the 
changes  of  timbre  of  the  voice,  and  the  many  other  modi- 
fications of  expression.  While  between  the  old  monotonous 
dance-chant  and  a  grand  opera  of  our  own  day,  with  its  endless 
orchestral  complexities  and  vocal  combinations,  the  contrast 
in  heterogeneity  is  so  extreme  that  it  seems  scarcely  credible 
that  the  one  should  have  been  the  ancestor  of  the  other. 

Were  they  needed,  many  further  illustrations  might  be 
cited.  Going  back  to  the  early  time  when  the  deeds  of  the 
god-king  were  recorded  in  picture-writings  on  the  walls  of 
temples  and  palaces,  and  so  constituted  a  rude  literature, 
we  might  trace  the  development  of  Literature  through 
phases  in  which,  as  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  it  presents 
in  one  work  theology,  cosmogony,  history,  biography,  law, 
ethics,  poetry ;  down  to  its  present  heterogeneous  develop- 
ment, in  which  its  separated  divisions  and  subdivisions 
are  so  numerous  and  varied  as  to  defy  complete  classifi- 
cation. Or  we  might  trace  out  the  evolution  of  Science ; 
beginning  with  the  era  in  which  it  was  not  yet  differentiated 
from  Art,  and  was,  in  union  with  Art,  the  handmaid  of 
Religion;  passing  through  the  era  in  which  the  sciences 
were  so  few  and  rudimentary,  as  to  be  simultaneously 
cultivated   by  the  same  men ;    and  ending  with   the   era 


PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  85 

in  which  the  genera  and  species  are  so  numerous  that 
few  can  enumerate  them,  and  no  one  can  adequately 
grasp  even  one  genus.  Or  we  might  do  the  like  with 
Architecture,  with  the  Drama,  with  Dress.  But  doubtless 
the  reader  is  already  weary  of  illustrations ;  and  our 
promise  has  been  amply  fulfilled.  Abundant  proof  has  been 
given  that  the  law  of  organic  development  formulated  by 
von  Baer,  is  the  law  of  all  development.  The  advance  from 
the  simple  to  the  complex,  through  a  process  of  successive 
differentiations,  is  seen  alike  in  the  earliest  changes  of  the  , 

Universe  to  which  we  can  reason  our  way  back,  and  in  the  r7 

earliest  changes  which  we  can  inductively  establish ;  it  is 
seen  in  the  geologic  and  climatic  evolution  of  the  Earth  ; 
it  is  seen  in  the  unfolding  of  every  single  organism  on  its 
surface,  and  in  the  multiplication  of  kinds  of  organisms; 
it  is  seen  in  the  evolution  of  Humanity,  whether  contem- 
plated in  the  civilized  individual,  or  in  the  aggregate  of 
races ;  it  is  seen  in  the  evolution  of  Society  in  respect  alike 
of  its  political,  its  religious,  and  its  economical  organization ; 
and  it  is  seen  in  the  evolution  of  all  those  endless  concrete 
and  abstract  products  of  human  activity  which  constitute 
the  environment  of  our  daily  life.  From  the  remotest 
past  which  Science  can  fathom,  up  to  the  novelties  of 
yesterday,  that  in  which  progress  essentially  consists, 
is  the  transformation  of  the  homogeneous  into  the 
heterogeneous. 

And  now,  must  not  this  uniformity  of  procedure  be  a 
consequence  of  some  fundamental  necessity  ?  May  we  not 
rationally  seek  for  some  all-pervading  principle  which 
determines  this  all-pervading  process  of  things  ?  Does  not 
the  universality  of  the  law  imply  a  universal  cause  ? 

That  we  can  comprehend  such  cause,  noumeually  con- 
sidered, is  not  to  be  supposed.  To  do  this  would  be  to 
solve  that  ultimate  mystery  which  must  ever  transcend 
human  intelligence.     But  it  still  may  be  possible  for  us  to 


30  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

reduce  the  law  of  all  progress,  above  set  fortli,  from  the 
condition  of  an  empirical  g-eneralization,  to  the  condition 
of  a  rational  generalization.  Just  as  it  was  possible  to 
interpret  Kepler's  laws  as  necessary  consequences  of  the 
law  of  gravitation;  so  it  may  be  possible  to  interpi*et  tliig 
law  of  progress,  in  its  multiform  manifestations,  as  the 
necessary  consequence  of  some  similarly  universal  principle. 
As  gravitation  was  assignable  as  the  cause  of  each  of  tlie 
groups  of  phenomena  which  Kepler  generalized ;  so  may 
some  equally  simple  attribute  of  things  be  assignable  as 
the  cause  of  each  of  the  groups  of  phenomena  generalized 
in  the  foregoing  pages.  We  may  be  able  to  affiliate  all 
these  varied  evolutions  of  the  homoofoneous  into  the  hetero- 
geneous,  upon  certain  facts  of  immediate  experience,  which, 
in  virtue  of  endless  repetition,  we  regard  as  necessary. 

The  probability  of  a  common  cause,  and  the  possibility 
of  formulating  it,  being  granted,  it  will  be  well,  first,  to 
ask  what  must  be  the  general  cliaracteristics  of  such  cause, 
and  in  what  direction  we  ought  to  look  for  it.  We  can 
with  certainty  predict  that  it  has  a  high  degree  of  abstract- 
ness;  seeing  that  it  is  common  to  such  infinitely- varied 
phenomena.  We  need  not  expect  to  see  in  it  an  obvious 
solution  of  this  or  that  form  of  progress  ;  because  it  is 
equally  concerned  with  forms  of  progress  bearing  little 
apparent  resemblance  to  them  :  its  association  with  multi- 
form orders  of  facts,  involves  its  dissociation  from  any 
particular  order  of  facts.  Being  that  which  determines 
progress  of  every  kind — astronomic,  geologic,  organic, 
ethnologic,  social,  economic,  artistic,  &c. — it  must  be 
involved  with  some  fundamental  trait  displayed  in  common 
by  these ;  and  must  be  expressible  in  terms  of  this  funda- 
mental trait.  The  only  obvious  respect  in  which  all  kinds 
of  progress  are  alike,  is,  that  they  are  modes  of  change; 
and  hence,  in  some  characteristic  of  changes  in  general,  the 
di'^ired  solution  will  probably  be  found.  We  may  suspect 
a  priori  that  in   some   universal    law    of  change  lies  the 


PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  37 

explanation  of  this  universal  transformation  of  the  homo- 
geneous into  the  heterog'cncous. 

Thus  much  premised,  we  pass  at  once  to  the  statement 
of  the  law,  which  is  this  : — Eoery  <-^(^i}il(i^^  force  prpjluces  more 
ilian  one  change- — every  .cause  produces  more  than  one  effect. 

To  make  this  proposition  comprehensible,  a  few  examples 
must  be  given.  When  one  body  strikes  another,  thiit 
which  we  usually  regard  as  the  effect,  is  a  change  of 
position  or  motion  in  one  or  both  bodies.  But  a  moment's 
thought  shows  us  that  this  is  a  very  incomplete  view  of  tho 
matter.  Besides  the  visible  mechanical  result,  sound  is 
pi'oduced;  or,  to  speak  accurately,  a  vibration  in  one  or' 
both  bodies,  which  is  communicated  to  the  surrounding  air ; 
and  under  some  circumstances  we  call  this  the  effect. 
Moreover,  the  air  has  not  only  been  made  to  undulate,  but 
lias  had  currents  caused  in  it  by  the  transit  of  the  bodies. 
Further,  there  is  a  disarrangement  of  the  particles  of  the 
two  bodies  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their  point  of  collision ; 
amounting,  in  some  cases,  to  a  visible  condensation.  Yet 
more,  this  condensation  is  accompanied  by  the  disengage- 
ment of  heat.  In  some  cases  a  spark — that  is,  light — 
results,  from  the  incandescence  of  a  portion  struck  ofE ; 
and  sometimes  this  incandescence  is  associated  with  chemi- 
cal combination.  Thus,  by  the  mechanical  force  expended 
in  the  collision,  at  least  five,  and  often  more,  different  kinds 
of  changes  have  been  produced.  Take,  again,  the  lighting 
of  a  candle.  Primarily  this  is  a  chemical  change  con- 
sefinent  on  a  rise  of  temperature.  The  process  of  combina- 
lion  having  once  been  started  by  extraneous  heat,  there  is 
a  continued  formation  of  carbonic  acid,  water,  &c. — in 
itself  a  result  more  complex  than  the  extraneous  heat  that 
first  caused  it.  But  accompanying  this  process  of  combina- 
tion there  is  a  production  of  heat;  there  is  a  production  of 
light;  there  is  an  ascending  column  of  hot  gases  generated; 
there  are  inflowing  currents  set  going  in  the  surrounding 
air.     M<n'eover,   the  complicating  of  effects  does  not  end 


88  progress:    its  law  and  cause. 

here :  eacTi  of  the  several  changes  produced  becomes  the 
parent  of  further  changes.  The  carbonic  acid  given  off  will 
by  and  by  combine  with  some  base ;  or  under  the  influence 
of  sunshine  give  up  its  carbon  to  the  leaf  of  a  plant.  The 
water  will  modify  the  hygrometric  state  of  the  air  around ; 
or,  if  the  current  of  hot  gases  containing  it  comes  against 
a  cold  body,  will  be  condensed :  altering  the  temperature 
of  the  surface  it  covers.  The  heat  given  out  melts  the 
subjacent  tallow,  and  expands  whatever  it  warms.  The 
light,  falling  on  various  substances,  calls  forth  from  them 
reactions  by  which  its  composition  is  modified;  and  so 
divers  colours  are  produced.  Similarly  even  with  these 
secondary  actions,  which  may  be  traced  out  into  ever- 
multiplying  ramifications,  until  they  become  too  minute  to 
be  appreciated.  And  thus  it  is  with  all  changes  whatever. 
No  case  can  be  named  in  which  an  active  force  does  not  evolve 
forces  of  several  kinds,  and  each  of  these,  other  groups  of 
forces.  Universally  the  effect  is  more  complex  than  the  cause. 

Doubtless  the  reader  already  foresees  the  course  of  our 
torgument.  This  multiplication  of  effects,  which  is  displayed 
in  every  event  of  to-day,  has  been  going  on  from  the 
beginning ;  and  is  true  of  the  grandest  phenomena  of  the 
universe  as  of  the  most  insignificant.  From  the  law  that 
every  active  force  produces  more  than  one  change,  it  is  an 
inevitable  corollary  that  during  the  past  there  has  been  an 
ever-growing  complication  of  things.  Throughout  creation 
there  must  have  gone  on,  and  must  still  go  on,  a  never- 
ceasing  transformation  of  the  homogeneous  into  the  hetero- 
geneous.    Let  us  trace  this  truth  in  detail. 

Without  committing  ourselves  to  it  as  more  than  a 
speculation^  though  a  highly  probable  one,  let  us  again 
commence  with  the  evolution  of  the  Solar  System  out  of  a 
nebulous  medium.  The  hypothesis  is  that  from  the  mutual 
attraction  of  the  molecules  of  a  diflPused  mass  whose  forn^ 
is  unsymmetrical,  there  results  not  only  condensation  but 
rotation.     While  the  condensation  and  the  rate  of  rotation 


PROGRESS:     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  89 

go  on  increasing,  the  approacli  of  the  molecules  is  neces- 
sarily accompanied  by  an  increasing  temperature.  As  the 
temperature  rises,  light  begins  to  be  evolved ;  and 
ultimately  there  results  a  revolving  sphere  of  fluid  matter 
radiating  intense  heat  and  light — a  sun.  There  are  reasons 
for  believing  that,  in  consequence  of  the  higher  tangential 
velocity  originally  possessed  by  the  outer  parts  of  the  con- 
densing nebulous  mass,  there  will  be  occasional  detachments 
of  rotating  rings;  and  that,  from  the  breaking  up  of  these 
nebulous  rings,  there  will  arise  masses  which  in  the  course 
of  their  condensation  repeat  the  actions  of  the  parent  mass, 
and  so  produce  planets  and  their  satellites — an  inference 
strongly  supported  by  the  still  extant  rings  of  Saturn. 
Should  it  hereafter  be  satisfactorily  shown  that  planets  and 
satellites  were  thus  generated,  a  striking  illustration  will 
be  afforded  of  the  highly  heterogeneous  effects  produced  by 
the  primary  homogeneous  cause ;  but  it  will  serve  our 
present  purpose  to  point  to  the  fact  that  from  the  mutual 
attraction  of  the  particles  of  an  irregular  nebulous  mass 
there  result  condensation,  rotation,  heat,  and  light. 

It  follows  as  a  corollary  from  the  Nebular  Hypothesis, 
that  the  Earth  must  once  have  been  incandescent ;  and 
whether  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  be  true  or  not,  this 
original  incandescence  of  the  Earth  is  now  inductively 
established — or,  if  not  established,  at  least  rendered  so 
highly  probable  that  it  is  an  accepted  geological  doctrine. 
Let  us  look  first  at  the  astronomical  attributes  of  this  once 
molten  globe.  From  its  rotation  there  result  the  oblateness 
of  its  form,  the  alternations  of  day  and  night,  and  (under 
the  influence  of  the  moon  and  in  a  smaller  degree  the  sun) 
the  tides,  aqueous  and  atmospheric.  From  the  inclination 
of  its  axis,  there  result  the  many  differences  of  the  seasons, 
both  simiiltuncous  and  successive,  that  pervade  its  surface, 
and  from  the  same  cause  joined  with  the  action  of  the 
moon  on  the  equatorial  protuberance  there  results  the 
precession  of  the  equinoxes.  Thus  the  multiplication  of 
4 


40  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE. 

effects  is  obvious.  Several  of  the  differentiations  due  to 
the  gradual  cooling  of  the  Earth  have  been  already  noticed 
— as  the  formation  of  a  crusty  the  solidification  of  sublimed 
elements,  the  precipitation  of  water,  &c., — and  we  here 
again  refer  to  them  merely  to  point  out  that  they  are 
.simultaneous  effects  of  the  one  cause,  diminishing  heat.  Let 
us  now,  however,  observe  the  multiplied  changes  afterwards 
arising  from  the  continuance  of  this  one  cause.  The 
cooling  of  the  Earth  involves  its  contraction.  Hence  the 
solid  crust  first  formed  is  presently  too  large  for  the 
shrinking  nucleus ;  and  as  it  cannot  support  itself,  inevit- 
ably follows  the  nucleus.  But  a  spheroidal  envelope 
cannot  sink  down  into  contact  with  a  smaller  internal 
spheroid,  without  disruption :  it  must  run  into  wrinkles  as 
the  rind  of  an  apple  does  when  the  bulk  of  its  interior 
decreases  from  evaporation.  As  the  cooling  progresses 
and  the  envelope  thickens,  the  ridges  consequent  on  these 
contractions  will  become  greater,  rising  ultimately  into 
hills  and  mountains ;  and  the  later  systems  of  mountains 
thus  produced  will  not  only  be  higher,  as  we  find  them  to 
be,  but  will  be  longer,  as  we  also  find  them  to  be.  Thus, 
leaving  out  of  view  other  modifying  forces,  we  see  what 
immense  heterogeneity  of  surface  has  arisen  from  the  one 
cause,  loss  of  heat — a  heterogeneity  which  the  telescope 
sliows  us  to  be  paralleled  on  the  face  of  Mars,  and  which 
in  the  moon  too,  where  aqueous  and  atmospheric  agencies 
liave  been  absent,  it  reveals  under  a  somewhat  different 
form.  But  we  have  yet  to  notice  another  kind  of  hetero- 
f^'eneity  of  surface  similarly  and  simultaneously  caused. 
While  the  Earth's  crust  was  still  thin,  the  ridges  produced 
by  its  contraction  must  not  only  have  been  small,  but  the 
spaces  between  these  ridges  must  have  rested  with  great 
evenness  upon  the  subjacent  liquid  spheroid;  and  the 
v/ater  in  those  arctic  and  antarctic  regions  in  which  it 
first  condensed,  must  have  been  evenly  distinbuted.  But 
as  fast  as  the  crust  thickened   and  gained  corresponding 


PROGRESS:  ITS  LAW  AND  CAUSE.  41 

etrengtli,  tLe  lines  of  fracture  from  time  to  time  caused 
in  it,  must  have  occurred  at  greater  distances  apart ;  the 
intermediate  surfaces  must  have  followed  the  contracting 
nucleus  with  less  uniformity  ;  and  there  must  have  resulted 
larger  areas  of  land  and  Avater.  If  any  one,  after  wrapping 
up  an  orange  in  tissue  paper,  and  observing  not  only  how 
Email  are  the  wrinkles,  but  how  evenly  the  intervening 
spaces  lie  upon  the  surface  of  the  orange,  will  then  wrap  it 
up  in  thick  cartridge-paper,  and  note  both  the  greater 
height  of  the  ridges  and  the  larger  spaces  throughout 
which  the  paper  does  not  touch  the  orange,  he  will  realize 
the  fact  that,  as  the  Earth's  solid  envelope  grew  thicker, 
the  areas  of  elevatioii  and  depression  increased.  In  place 
of  islands  homogeneously  dispersed  amid  an  all-embracing 
sea,  there  must  have  gradually  arisen  heterogeneous 
arrangements  of  continent  and  ocean.  Once  more,  this 
double  change  in  the  extent  and  in  the  elevation  of  the 
lands,  involved  yet  another  species  of  heterogeneity — that 
of  coast-line.  A  tolerably  even  surface  raised  out  of  the 
ocean  must  have  a  simple,  regular  sea-margin;  but  a 
surface  varied  by  table-lands  and  intersected  by  mountain- 
chains  must,  when  raised  out  of  the  ocean,  have  an  outline 
extremely  irregular  both  in  its  leading  features  and  in  its 
details.  Thus,  multitudinous  geological  and  geographical 
results  are  slowly  brought  about  by  this  one  cause — the 
contraction  of  the  Earth. 

When  we  pass  from  the  agency  termed  igneous,  to 
aqueous  and  atmospheric  agencies,  we  see  the  like  ever- 
growing complications  of  effects.  The  denuding  actions  of 
air  and  water,  joined  with  those  of  changing  temperature, 
have,  froia  the  beginning,  been  modifying  every  exposed 
surface.  Oxidation,  heat,  wind,  frost,  rain,  glaciers,  rivers, 
tides,  waves,  have  been  unceasingly  producing  disintcgi-a- 
tion ;  varying  in  kind  and  amount  according  to  local  cir- 
cumstances. Acting  upon  a  tract  of  granite,  they  hero 
work  scarcely  an  appreciable  effect;  there  cause  exfoliations 


42  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE. 

of  the  surface,  and  a  resulting"  heap  of  debris  and  boulders ; 
and  elsewhere,  after  decomposing  the  feldspar  into  a  white 
clay,  carry  away  this  and  the  accompanying  quartz  and 
mica,  and  deposit  them  in  separate  beds,  fluviatile  and 
marine.  AYhen  the  exposed  land  consists  of  several  unliko 
kinds  of  sedimentary  strata,  or  igneous  rocks,  or  both, 
denudation  produces  changes  proportionably  more  hetero- 
geneous. The  formations  being  disintegrate  in  different 
degrees,  there  follows  an  increased  irregularity  of  surface. 
The  areas  drained  by  different  rivers  being  differently 
constituted,  these  rivers  carry  down  to  the  sea  different 
combinations  of  ingredients ;  and  so  sundry  new  strata  of 
unlike  compositions  are  formed.  And  here  we  may  see 
very  simply  illustrated,  the  truth,  which  we  shall  presently 
have  to  trace  out  in  more  involved  cases,  that  in  propor- 
tion to  the  heterogeneity  of  the  object  or  objects  on  which 
any  force  expends  itself,  is  the  heterogeneity  of  the  effects. 
A  continent  of  complex  structure,  exposing  many  strata 
irregularly  distributed,  raised  to  various  levels,  tilted  up  at 
all  angles,  will,  under  the  same  denuding  agencies,  give 
origin  to  innumerable  and  involved  results :  each  district 
must  be  differently  modified ;  each  river  must  carry  down  a 
different  kind  of  detritus ;  each  deposit  must  be  differently 
distributed  by  the  entangled  currents,  tidal  and  other, 
which  wash  the  contorted  shores ;  and  this  multiplication 
of  results  must  manifestly  be  greatest  where  the  complexity 
of  surface  is  greatest. 

Here  we  might  show  how  the  general  truth,  that  every 
active  force  produces  more  than  one  change,  is  again  ex- 
emplified in  the  highly-involved  flow  of  the  tides,  in  the 
ocean  currents,  in  the  winds,  in  the  distribution  of  rain,  in 
the  distribution  of  heat,  and  so  forth.  But  not  to  dwell 
upon  these,  let  us,  for  the  fuller  elucidation  of  this  truth  in 
relation  to  the  inorganic  world,  consider  what  would  be  the 
consequences  of  some  extensive  cosmical  catastrophe — say 
the  subsidence  of  Central  America.     The  immediate  results 


PEOGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  43 

of  the  disturbance  would  themselves  be  sufficiently  complex. 
Besides  the  numberless  dislocations  of  strata,  the  ejections 
of  igneous  matter,  the  propagation  of  earthquake  vibrations 
thousands  of  miles  around,  the  loud  explosions,  and  the 
escape  of  gases ;  there  would  be  the  rush  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Oceans  to  fill  the  vacant  space,  the  subsequent 
recoil  of  enormous  waves,  which  would  traverse  both  these 
oceans  and  produce  myriads  of  changes  along  their  shores, 
the  corresponding  atmospheric  waves  complicated  by  the 
currents  surrounding  each  volcanic  vent,  and  the  electrical 
discharges  with  which  such  disturbances  are  accompanied. 
But  these  temporary  effects  would  be  insignificant  compared 
with  the  permanent  ones.  The  currents  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  would  be  altered  in  their  directions  and 
amounts.  The  distribution  of  heat  achieved  by  these  ocean 
currents  would  be  different  from  what  it  is.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  isothermal  lines,  not  only  on  neighbouring 
continents,  but  even  throughout  Europe,  would  be  changed. 
The  tides  would  flow  differently  from  what  they  do  noAv. 
There  would  be  more  or  less  modification  of  the  winds  in 
their  periods,  strengths,  directions,  qualities.  Rain  would 
fall  scarcely  anywhere  at  the  same  times  and  in  the  same 
quantities  as  at  present.  In  short,  the  meteorological  con- 
ditions thousands  of  miles  off,  on  all  sides,  would  be  more 
or  less  revolutionized.  Thus,  without  taking  into  account 
the  infinitude  of  modifications  which  these  changes  would 
produce  upon  the  flora  and  fauna,  both  of  land  and  sea,  the 
reader  will  perceive  the  immense  heterogeneity  of  the 
results  wrought  out  by  one  force,  when  that  force  expends 
itself  upon  a  previously  complicated  area;  and  he  will 
draw  the  corollary  that  from  the  beginning  the  complication 
has  advanced  at  an  increasing  rate. 

Before  going  on  to  show  how  organic  progress  also 
depends  on  the  law  that  every  force  produces  more  than 
one  change,  we  have  to  notice  the  manifestation  of  thia 
law  in  yet  another  species  of  inorganic  progress — namely, 


44  PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

cliemical.  The  same  general  causes  tliafc  have  wrought 
out  the  heterogeneity  of  the  Earth,  physically  considered, 
have  simultaneously  wrought  out  its  chemical  heterogeneity. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  at  an  extreme  heat 
the  elements  cannot  combine.  Even  under  such  heat  as 
can  be  artificially  produced,  some  very  strong  affinities 
yield,  as,  for  instance,  that  of  oxygen  for  hydrogen ;  and 
the  gi-eat  majority  of  chemical  compounds  are  decomposed 
at  much  lower  temperatures.  But  without  insisting  on 
the  highly  probable  inference,  that  when  the  Earth  was 
in  its  first  state  of  iiicandpscence  there  were  no  chemical 
combinations  at  all,  it  will  sufl^ice  for  our  purpose  to  point  to 
the  unquestionable  fact  that  the  compounds  which  can  exist 
at  the  highest  temperatures,  and  which  must,  therefore,  have 
been  the  first  that  were  formed  as  the  Earth  cooled,  are 
those  of  the  simplest  constitutions.  The  protoxides^ 
including  under  that  head  the  alkalies,  earths,  &c. — are, 
as  a  class,  the  most  stable  compounds  we  know  :  most  of 
them  resisting  decomposition  by  any  heat  we  can  generate. 
These  are  combinations  of  the  simplest  order — are  but 
one  degree  less  homogeneous  than  the  elements  themselves. 
More  heterogeneous,  less  stable,  and  therefore  later  in  the 
Earth's  history,  are  the  deutoxides,  tritoxides,  peroxides, 
&c.  j  in  which  two,  three,  four,  or  more  atoms  of  oxygen 
are  united  with  one  atom  of  metal  or  other  element. 
Higher  than  these  in  heterogeneity  are  the  hydrates; 
in  which  an  oxide  of  hydrogen,  united  with  an  oxide  of 
some  other  element,  forms  a  substance  whose  atoms 
severally  contain  at  least  four  ultimate  atoms  of  three 
different  kinds.  Yet  more  heterogeneous  and  less  stable 
still  are  the  salts ;  which  present  us  with  molecules  each 
made  up  of  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  ten,  twelve,  or  more 
atoms,  of  three,  if  not  more,  kinds.  Then  there  are  the 
hydrated  salts,  of  a  yet  greater  heterogeneity,  which  undergo 
partial  decomposition  at  much  lower  temperatures.  After 
them  come  the  further  complicated  supersalts  and  doubla 


PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  45 

Baits,  having  a  stability  again  decreased  ;  and  so  through- 
out. Without  entering  into  qualifications  for  which  space 
fails,  we  believe  no  chemist  will  deny  it  to  be  a  general  law 
of  these  inorganic  combinations  that,  other  things  equal, 
the  stability  decreases  as  the  complexity  increases.  When 
we  pass  to  the  compounds  of  organic  chemistry,  we  find 
this  general  law  still  further  exemplified :  we  find  much 
greater  complexity  and  much  less  stability.  A  molecule 
of  albumen,  for  instance,  consists  of  482  ultimate  atoms 
of  five  different  kinds.  Fibrine,  still  more  intricate  in 
constitution,  contains  in  each  molecule,  298  atoms  of 
carbon,  49  of  nitrogen,  2  of  sulphur,  228  of  hydrogen,  and 
92  of  oxygen — in  all,  669  atoms;  or,  more  strictly  speaking, 
equivalents.  And  these  two  substances  are  so  unstable 
as  to  decompose  at  quite  ordinary  temperatures;  as  that 
to  which  the  outside  of  a  joint  of  roast  meat  is  exposed. 
Thus  it  is  manifest  that  the  present  chemical  heterogeneity 
of  the  Earth's  surface  has  arisen  by  degrees,  as  the 
decrease  of  heat  has  permitted;  and  that  it  has  shown 
itself  in  three  forms — first,  in  the  multiplication  of  chemical 
compounds ;  second,  in  the  greater  number  of  different 
elements  contained  in  the  more  modern  of  these  compounds ; 
and  third,  in  the  higher  and  more  varied  multiples  in  which 
these  more  numerous  elements  combine. 

To  say  that  this  advance  in  chemical  heterogeneity  is 
due  to  the  one  cause,  diminution  of  the  Earth's  temperature, 
would  be  to  say  too  much ;  for  it  is  clear  that  aqueous  and 
atmospheric  agencies  have  been  concerned ;  and  further, 
that  the  affinities  of  the  elements  themselves  are  implied. 
The  cause  has  all  along  been  a  composite  one  :  the  cooling 
of  the  Earth  having  been  simply  the  most  general  of  the 
concurrent  causes,  or  assemblage  of  conditions.  And  here, 
indeed,  it  may  be  remarked  that  in  the  several  classes  of 
facts  ah'eady  dealt  with  (excepting,  perhaps,  the  first), 
and  still  more  in  those  with  which  we  shall  presently  deal, 
the   causes   are   more   or   less   compound;    as  indeed  aro 


46  PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

nearly  all  causes  with  wliicli  we  are  acquainted.  Scarcely 
any  change  can  rig'htly  be  ascribed  to  one  agency  alone,  to 
the  neglect  of  the  permanent  or  temporary  conditions 
under  which  only  this  agency  produces  the  change.  But 
as  it  does  not  materially  affect  our  argument,  we  prefer,  for 
simplicity's  sake,  to  use  throughout  the  popular  mode  of 
expression.  Perhaps  it  will  be  further  objected,  that  to 
assign  loss  of  heat  as  the  cause  of  any  changes,  is  to 
attribute  these  changes  not  to  a  force,  but  to  the  absence 
of  a  force.  And  this  is  true.  Strictly  speaking,  the 
changes  should  be  attributed  to  those  forces  which  come 
into  action  when  the  antagonist  force  is  withdrawn.  But 
though  there  is  inaccuracy  in  saying  that  the  freezing  of 
water  is  due  to  the  loss  of  its  heat,  no  practical  error  arises 
from  it ;  nor  will  a  parallel  laxity  of  expression  vitiate  our 
statements  respecting  the  multiplication  of  eSects.  Indeed, 
the  objection  serves  but  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact,  that 
not  only  does  the  exertion  of  a  force  produce  more  than 
one  change,  but  the  withdrawal  of  a  force  produces  more 
than  one  change. 

Returning  to  the  thread  of  our  exposition,  we  have  nexfc 
to  trace,  throughout  organic  progress,  this  same  all- 
pervading  principle.  And  here,  where  the  evolution  of 
the  homogeneous  into  the  heterogeneous  was  first  observed, 
the  production  of  many  effects  by  one  cause  is  least  easy 
to  demonstrate.  The  development  of  a  seed  into  a  plant, 
or  an  ovum  into  an  animal,  is  so  gradual,  while  the  forces 
which  determine  it  are  so  involved,  and  at  the  same  time 
so  unobtrusive,  that  it  is  difl&cult  to  detect  the  multipli- 
cation of  effects  which  is  elsewhere  so  obvious.  But, 
guided  by  indirect  evidence,  we  may  safely  conclude 
that  here  too  the  law  holds.  Note,  first,  how  numerous 
are  the  changes  which  any  marked  action  works  upon  an 
adult  organism — a  human  being,  for  instance.  An  alarm- 
ing sound  or  sight,  besides  the  impressions  on  the  organs 
of  sense  and  the  nerves,  may  produce  a  start,  a  scream,  a 


PEOGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  47 

distortion  of  tlie  face,  a  trembling  consequent  on  general 
muscular  relaxation,  a  burst  of  perspiration,  a  rusb  of 
blood  to  tbe  brain,  followed  possibly  by  arrest  of  the  Heart's 
action  and  by  syncope;  and  if  the  subject  be  feeble,  an 
indisposition  witli  its  long  train  of  complicated  symptoms 
may  set  in.  Similarly  in  cases  of  disease.  A  minute 
portion  of  the  small-pox  virus  introduced  into  the  system, 
v/ill,  in  a  severe  case,  cause,  during  the  first  stage,  rigors, 
heat  of  skin,  accelerated  pulse,  furred  tongue,  loss  of 
appetite,  thirst,  epigastric  uneasiness,  vomiting,  headache, 
pains  in  the  back  and  limbs,  muscular  weakness,  convulsions, 
delirium,  &c. ;  in  the  second  stage,  cutaneous  eruption, 
itching,  tingling,  sore  throat,  swelled  fauces,  salivation, 
cough,  hoarseness,  dyspnoea,  &c. ;  and  in  the  third  stage, 
cedematous  inflammations,  pneumonia,  pleurisy,  diarrhoea, 
inflammation  of  the  brain,  ophthalmia,  erysipelas,  &c. : 
each  of  which  enumerated  symptoms  is  itself  more  or  less 
complex.  Medicines,  special  foods,  better  air,  might  in 
like  manner  be  instanced  as  producing  multipled  results. 
Now  it  needs  only  to  consider  that  the  many  changes  thus 
wrought  by  one  force  upon  an  adult  organism,  will  be  in 
part  paralleled  in  an  embryo  organism,  to  understand  how 
here  also,  the  evolution  of  the  homogeneous  into  the 
heterogeneous  may  be  due  to  the  production  of  many 
effects  by  one  cause.  The  external  heat,  which,  falling 
on  a  matter  having  special  proclivities,  determines  the 
first  complications  of  the  germ,  may,  by  acting  on  these, 
superinduce  further  complications  ;  upon  these  still  higher 
and  more  numerous  ones  ;  and  so  on  continually  :  each 
organ  as  it  is  developed  serving,  by  its  actions  and  reactions 
on  the  rest,  to  initiate  new  complexities.  The  first 
pulsations  of  the  foetal  heart  must  simultaneously  aid  the 
unfolding  of  every  part.  The  growth  of  each  tissue,  by 
taking  from  the  blood  special  proportions  of  elements,  must) 
modify  the  constitution  of  the  blood  ;  and  so  must  modify 
the  nutrition  of  all  the  other  tissues.     The  heart's  action. 


48  PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

implying  as  it  does  a  certain  waste,  necessitates  an  addition 
to  the  blood  of  effete  matters,  which  must  influence  the 
rest  of  the  system,  and  perhaps,  as  some  think^  cause  the 
formation  of  excretory  organs.  The  nervous  connexions 
established  among  the  viscera  must  further  multiply  their 
mutual  influences;  and  so  continually.  Still  stronger 
becomes  the  probability  of  this  view  when  we  call  to  mind 
the  fact,  that  the  same  germ  may  be  evolved  into  different 
forms  according  to  circumstances.  Thus,  during  its  earlier 
stages,  every  embryo  is  sexless — becomes  either  male 
or  female  as  the  balance  of  forces  acting  on  it  deter- 
mines. Again,  it  is  a  well-established  fact  that  the  larva 
of  a  working-bee  will  develop  into  a  queen-bee,  if  before  it  is 
too  late,  its  food  be  changed  to  that  on  which  the  larvEe  of 
queen-bees  are  fed.  All  which  instances  suggest  that  tho 
proximate  cause  of  each  advance  in  embryonic  complication 
is  the  action  of  incident  forces  upon  the  complication 
previously  existing.  Indeed,  we  may  find  a  priori  reason 
to  think  that  the  evolution  proceeds  after  this  manner. 
For  since  no  gei-m,  animal  or  vegetal,  contains  the  slightest 
rudiment  or  indication  of  the  future  organism — since  the 
microscope  has  shown  us  that  the  first  process  set  up  in 
every  fertilized  germ,  is  a  process  of  repeated  spontaneous 
fissions  ending  in  the  production  of  a  mass  of  cells,  not  one 
of  which  exhibits  any  special  character ;  there  seems  no 
alternative  but  to  suppose  that  the  partial  organization  at 
any  moment  existing  in  a  growing  embryo,  is  transformed 
by  the  agencies  acting  upon  it  into  the  succeeding  phase  of 
organization,  and  this  into  the  next,  until,  through  evei*- 
increasing  complexities,  the  ultimate  form  is  reached.  Not 
indeed  that  we  can  thus  really  explain  the  production  of 
any  plant  or  animal.  We  are  still  in  the  dark  respecting 
those  mysterious  properties  in  virtue  of  which  the  germ, 
when  subject  to  fit  influences,  undergoes  the  special 
changes  that  begin  the  series  of  tr-ansformations.  All  wo 
aim   to    show,    is,    that    given    a   germ    possessing    those: 


PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  49 

particular  proclivities  distinguishing  tlie  species  to  which 
it  belongs,  and  the  evolution  of  an  or^-anism  from  it, 
probably  depends  on  that  multiplication  of  effects  which 
we  have  seen  to  be  the  cause  of  progress  in  general,  so  far 
as  we  have  yet  traced  it. 

When,  leaving  the  development  of  single  plants  and 
animals,  we  pass  to  that  of  the  Earth's  flora  and  fauna,  the 
course  of  our  argument  again  becomes  clear  and  simple. 
Though,  as  was  admitted  in  the  first  part  of  this  article, 
the  fragmentary  facts  Paleontology  has  accumulated,  do 
not  clearly  warrant  us  in  saying  that,  in  the  lapse  of 
geologic  time,  there  have  been  evolved  more  heterogeneous 
organisms,  and  more  heterogeneous  assemblages  of  organ- 
isms, yet  we  shall  now  see  that  there  must  ever  have  been 
a  tendency  towards  these  results.  We  shall  find  that  the 
production  of  many  effects  by  one  cause,  which  as  already 
shown,  has  been  all  along  increasing  the  physical  hetero- 
geneity of  the  Earth,  has  further  involved  an  increasing 
heterogeneity  in  its  flora  and  fauna,  individually  and 
collectively.  An  illustration  will  make  this  clear.  Suppose 
that  by  a  series  of  upheavals,  occurring,  as  they  are  now 
known  to  do,  at  long  intervals,  the  East  Indian  Archipelago 
were  to  be,  step  by  step,  raised  into  a  continent,  and  a 
chain  of  mountains  formed  along  the  axis  of  elevation. 
By  the  first  of  these  upheavals,  the  plants  and  animals 
inhabiting  Borneo,  Sumatra,  New  Guinea,  and  the  rest, 
would  be  subjected  to  slightly  modified  sets  of  conditions. 
The  climate  in  general  would  be  altered  in  temperature,  in 
humidity,  and  in  its  periodical  variations ;  while  the  local 
differences  would  be  multiplied.  These  modifications  would 
affect  perhaps  inappreciably,  the  entire  flora  and  fauna  of 
the  region.  The  change  of  level  would  produce  additional 
modifications  :  varying  in  different  species,  and  also  in 
different  members  of  the  same  species,  according  to  their 
distance  from  the  axis  of  elevation.  Plants,  growing  only 
on  the  sea-shore  in  special  localities,  might  become  extinct. 


50  PEOGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

Others^  living  only  in  swamps  of  a  certain  liumidity^  would, 
if  they  survived  at  all^  probably  undergo  visible  changes  of 
appearance.  While  still  greater  alterations  would  occur  in 
the  plants  gradually  spreading  over  the  lands  ncAvly  raised 
above  the  sea.  The  animals  and  insects  living  on  theso 
modified  plants,  would  themselves  be  in  some  degree  modi- 
fied by  change  of  food,  as  well  as  by  change  of  climate ; 
and  the  modification  would  be  more  marked  where,  from 
the  dwindling  or  disappearance  of  one  kind  of  plant,  an 
allied  kind  was  eaten.  In  the  lapse  of  the  many  genera- 
tions arising  before  the  next  upheaval,  the  sensible  or 
insensible  alterations  thus  produced  in  each  species  would 
become  organized — there  would  be  a  more  or  less  complete 
adaptation  to  the  new  conditions.  The  next  upheaval 
would  superinduce  further  organic  changes,  implying  wider 
divergences  from  the  primary  forms;  and  so  repeatedly. 
But  now  let  it  be  observed  that  the  revolution  thus  result- 
ing would  not  be  a  substitution  of  a  thousand  more  or  less 
modified  species  for  the  thousand  original  species ;  but  in 
place  of  the  thousand  original  species  there  would  arise 
several  thousand  species,  or  varieties,  or  changed  forms. 
Each  species  being  distributed  over  an  area  of  some  extent, 
and  tending  continually  to  colonize  the  new  area  exposed, 
its  different  members  would  be  subject  to  different  sets  of 
changes.  Plants  and  animals  spreading  towards  the  equator 
would  not  be  affected  in  the  same  way  as  others  spreading 
from  it.  Those  spreading  towards  the  new  shores  would 
undergo  changes  unlike  the  changes  undergone  by  those 
spreading  into  the  mountains.  Thus,  each  original  race  of 
organisms,  wouldbecomo  the  root  from  which  diverged  several 
races  differing  more  or  less  from  it  and  from  each  other;  and 
while  some  of  these  might  subsequently  disappear,  probably 
more  than  one  would  survive  in  the  next  geologic  period : 
the  very  dispersion  itself  increasing  the  chances  of  survival, 
Not  only  would  there  be  certain  modifications  thus  caused 
by  change  of  physical  conditions  and  food,  but  also  in  some 


PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  51 

cases  other  modifications  caused  by  cliange  of  habit.  The 
fauna  of  each  island,  peopling,  step  by  step,  the  newly- 
raised  tracts,  would  eventually  come  in  contact  with  the 
faunas  of  other  islands ;  and  some  members  of  these  other 
faunas  would  be  unlike  any  creatures  before  seen.  Herbivores 
meeting  with  new  beasts  of  prey,  would,  in  some  cases, 
be  led  into  modes  of  defence  or  escape  diffex'ing  from 
those  previously  used;  and  simultaneously  the  beasts  of 
prey  would  modify  their  modes  of  pursuit  and  attack. 
We  know  that  when  circumstances  demand  it,  such  changea 
of  habit  do  take  place  in  animals ;  and  we  know  that  if  the 
new  habits  become  the  dominant  ones,  they  must  eventually 
in  some  degree  alter  the  organization.  Observe  now,  how- 
ever, a  further  consequence.  There  must  arise  not  simply  a 
tendency  towards  the  differentiation  of  each  race  of  organ- 
isms into  several  races ;  but  also  a  tendency  to  the  occasional 
production  of  a  somewhat  higher  organism.  Taken  in 
the  mass  these  divergent  varieties  which  have  been  caused 
by  fresh  physical  conditions  and  habits  of  life,  will  exhibit 
changes  quite  indefinite  in  kind  and  degree ;  and  changes 
that  do  not  necessarily  constitute  an  advance.  Probably  ia 
most  cases  the  modified  type  will  be  neither  more  nor  less 
heterogeneous  than  the  original  one.  In  some  cases  the 
habits  of  life  adopted  being  simpler  than  before,  a  less 
heterogeneous  structure  will  result :  there  will  be  a  retro- 
gradation.  But  it  must  now  and  then  occur,  that  some 
division  of  a  species,  falling  into  circumstances  which  give 
it  rather  more  complex  experiences,  and  demand  actions 
somewhat  more  involved,  will  have  certain  of  its  organs 
further  differentiated  in  proportionately  small  degrees, — 
Avill  become  slightly  more  heterogeneous.  Thus,  in  the 
natural  course  of  things,  there  will  from  time  to  time  arise 
au  increased  heterog(-neity  both  of  the  Earth's  flora  and 
fauna,  and  of  individual  races  included  in  them.  Omitting 
detailed  explanations,  and  allowing  for  the  qualifications 
whicli  cannot  liere   be    specified,  we  think  it  is  clear  that 


52  PROGKESS  :  ITS  LAW  AND  CAUSE. 

geological  mutations  have  all  along  tended  to  complicate 
the  forms  of  life,  whether  regarded  separately  or  collectively. 
The  same  causes  which  have  led  to  the  evolution  of  the 
Earth's  crust  from  the  simple  into  the  complex,  have 
simultaneously  led  to  a  parallel  evolution  of  the  Life  upon 
its  surface.  In  this  case,  as  in  previous  ones,  we  see  that 
the  transformation  of  the  homogeneous  into  the  hetero- 
geneous is  consequent  upon  the  universal  principle,  that 
every  active  force  produces  more  than  one  change. 

The  deduction  here  drawn  from  the  established  truths  of 
geology  and  the  general  laws  of  life,  gains  immensely  in 
weight  on  finding  it  to  be  in  harmony  with  an  induction 
drawn  from  direct  experience.  Just  that  divergence  of 
many  races  from  one  race,  which  we  inferred  must  have 
been  continually  occurring  during  geologic  time,  we  know 
to  have  occurred  during  the  pre-historic  and  historic 
periods,  in  man  and  domestic  animals.  And  just  that 
multiplication  of  effects  which  we  concluded  must  have 
produced  the  first,  we  see  has  produced  the  last.  Single 
causes,  as  famine,  pressure  of  population,  war,  have 
periodically  led  to  further  dispersions  of  mankind  and  of 
dependent  creatures  :  each  such  dispersion  iiiitiating  new 
modifications,  new  varieties  of  type.  Whether  all  the 
human  races  be  or  be  not  derived  from  one  stock, 
philology  makes  it  clear  that  whole  groups  of  races  now 
easily  distinguishable  from  each  other,  were  originally  one 
race, — that  the  diffusion  of  one  race  into  diiferent  climates 
and  conditions  of  existence,  has  produced  many  modified 
forms  of  it.  Similarly  with  domestic  animals.  Though  in 
some  cases — as  that  of  dogs — community  of  origin  will 
perhaps  be  disputed,  yet  in  other  cases — as  that  of  the 
sheep  or  the  cattle  of  our  own  country — it  will  not  be 
questioned  that  local  differences  of  climate,  food,  and 
treatment,  have  transformed  one  original  breed  into 
numerous  breeds  now  become  so  far  distinct  as  to  produce 
unstable  hybrids.     Moreover,  through   the   complication  of 


rKOGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  53 

effects  flowing  from  single  causes,  we  here  find,  what  wo 
before  inferred,  not  only  an  increase  of  general  hetero- 
geneity, but  also  of  special  heterogeneity.  While  of  the 
divergent  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  the  human  race 
many  have  undergone  changes  not  constituting  an  advance; 
while  in  some  the  tj^pe  may  have  degraded;  in  others  it 
has  become  decidedly  more  heterogeneous.  The  civilized 
European  departs  more  widely  from  the  vertebrate  arche- 
type than  does  the  savage.  Thus,  both  the  law  and  the 
cause  of  progress,  which,  from  lack  of  evidence,  can  be  but 
hypothetically  substantiated  in  respect  of  the  earlier  forms 
of  life  on  our  globe,  can  be  actually  substantiated  in 
respect  of  the  latest  forms.* 

If  the  advance  of  Man  towards  greater  heterogeneity  is 
traceable  to  the  production  of  many  effects  by  one  cause, 
still  more  clearly  may  the  advance  of  Society  towards 
greater  heterogeneity  be  so  explained.  Consider  the 
growth  of  an  industrial  organization.  When,  as  must 
occasionally  happen,  some  member  of  a  tribe  displays 
unusual  aptitude  for  making  an  article  of  general  use — a 
weapon,  for  instance — which  was  before  made  by  each 
man   for  himself,   there   arises   a    tendency   towards   the 

*  The  argument  concerning  organic  evolution  contained  in  this  paragraph 
and  the  one  preceding  it,  stands  verbatim  as  it  did  when  first  published  in 
the  Westminster  Review  for  April,  1857.  I  have  thus  left  it  without  the 
alteration  of  a  word  that  it  may  show  the  view  I  then  held  concerning  the 
origin  of  species.  The  sole  cause  recognized  is  that  of  direct  adaptation  of 
constitution  to  conditions  consequent  on  inheritance  of  the  modifications  of 
Btructure  r'^sulting  from  use  and  disuse.  There  is  no  recognition  of  that 
further  cause  disclosed  in  Mr.  Darwin's  work,  published  two  and  a  half  yeai3 
later — the  indirect  adaptation  resulting  from  the  natural  selection  of  favour- 
able variations.  The  multiplication  of  effects  is,  however,  equally  illus- 
trated in  whatever  way  the  adaptation  to  changing  conditions  is  effected,  or 
if  it  is  effected  in  both  ways,  as  I  hold.  I  may  add  that  there  is  indicated 
the  view  that  the  succession  of  organic  forms  is  not  serial  but  proceeds  by 
perpetual  divergence  and  re-divergonce — that  there  has  been  a  continual 
"  divergence  of  many  races  from  one  race  "  :  each  species  being  a  "  root" 
from  wliich  several  other  species  branch  out ;  and  the  growth  of  a  tree  being 
thus  the  implied  symbol. 


54  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE. 

differentiation  of  that  member  into  a  maker  of  such  weapon. 
His   companions — warriors   and    hunters    all   of    them, — • 
severally  feel  the  importance  of  having-  the  best  weapons 
that  can  be  made ;  and  are  therefore  certain  to  offer  strong 
inducements  to  this  skilled  individual  to  make  weapons  for 
them.     He,  on  the  other  hand,  having  not  only  an  unusual 
faculty,  but  an  unusual  liking,  for  making  such  weapons 
(the  talent  and  the  desire  for  any  occupation  being  com- 
monly associated),  is  predisposed  to  fulfil  each  commission 
on  the  offer  of  an  adequate  reward  :  especially  as  his  love 
of  distinction  is  also  gratified  and  his  living   facilitated. 
This  first  specialization  of  function,  once  commenced,  tends 
ever  to  become  more  decided.     On  the  side  of  the  weapon- 
maker  practice  gives  increased  skill — increased  superiority 
to  his  products.     On   the   side  of  his  clients,  cessation  of 
practice  entails  decreased  skill.     Thus  the  influences  which 
determine  this  division  of  labour  grow  stronger  in  both 
"Ways ;  and  the  incipient  heterogeneity  is,  on  the  average 
of  cases,  likely  to  become  permanent  for  that  generation  if 
no  longer.     This  process  not  only  differentiates  the  social 
mass   into    two    parts,    the    one    monopolizing,    or   almost 
monopolizing,  the  performance  of  a  certain  function,  and 
the    other   losing    the    habit,    and    in   some    measure    the 
power,  of  performing  that  function ;  but  it  tends  to  initiate 
other  differentiations.     The  advance  described  implies  the 
introduction  of  barter, — the  maker  of  weapons  has,  on  each 
occasion,  to  be  paid  in  such  other  articles  as  he  agrees  to 
take  in  exchange.     He  will  not  habitually  take  in  exchange 
one  kind  of  article,  but  many  kinds.     He  does  not  want  mats 
only,  or  skins,  or  fishing-gear,  but  he  wants  all  these,  and 
on  each  occasion  will  bargain  for  the  particular  things  he 
most  needs.    What  follows  ?  If  among  his  fellows  there  exist 
any  slig'ht  differences  of  skill  in  the  manufacture  of  these 
various  things,  as  there  are  almost  sure  to  do,  the  weapon- 
maker  will   take   from  each  one  the  thing  which  that  one 
excels   in  making :  he  will  exchange  for  mats  with   him 


PROGRESS  :  ITS  LAW  AND  CAUSE.  55 

whose  mats  are  superior,  and  will  bargain  for  the  fishing- 
gear  of  him  who  has  the  best.  But  he  who  has  bartered 
away  his  mats  or  his  fishing-gear,  must  make  other  mats  or 
fishing-gear  for  himself ;  and  in  so  doing  must,  in  some 
degree,  further  develop  his  aptitude.  Thus  it  results  that 
the  small  specialities  of  faculty  possessed  by  various  mem- 
bers of  the  tribe,  will  tend  to  grow  more  decided.  And 
whether  or  not  there  ensue  distinct  differentiations  of  other 
individuals  into  makers  of  particular  articles,  it  is  clear  that 
incipient  differentiations  take  place  throughout  the  tribe  : 
the  one  original  cause  produces  not  only  the  first  dual 
effect,  but  a  number  of  secondary  dual  effects,  like  in  kind, 
but  minor  in  degree.  This  process,  of  which  traces  may  be 
seen  among  schoolboys,  cannot  well  produce  lasting  effects 
in  an  unsettled  tribe  ;  but  where  there  grows  up  a  fixed 
and  multiplying  community,  such  differentiations  become 
permanent,  and  increase  with  each  generation.  The  en- 
hanced demand  for  every  commodity,  intensifies  the  func- 
tional activity  of  each  specialized  person  or  class  ;  and 
this  renders  the  specialization  more  definite  where  it  already 
exists,  and  establishes  it  where  it  is  but  nascent.  By  in- 
creasing the  pressure  on  the  means  of  subsistence,  a  larger 
population  again  augments  these  results ;  seeing  that  each 
person  is  forced  more  and  more  to  confine  himself  to  that 
which  he  can  do  best,  and  by  which  he  can  gain  most. 
Presently,  under  these  same  stimuli,  new  occupations  arise. 
Competing  workers,  ever  aiming  to  produce  improved 
articles,  occasionally  discover  better  processes  or  raw 
materials.  The  substitution  of  bronze  for  stone  entails  on 
him  who  first  makes  it  a  great  increase  of  demand ;  so  that 
he  or  his  successor  eventually  finds  all  his  time  occupied  in 
making  the  bronze  for  the  articles  he  sells,  and  is  obliged 
to  depute  the  fashioning  of  these  articles  to  others;  and, 
eventually,  the  making  of  bronze,  thus  differentiated  from 
a  pre-existing  occupation,  becomes  an  occupation  by  itself. 
But  now  mark  the    ramified    changes  which  follow    this 


56  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

change.  Bronze  presently  replaces  stone,  not  only  in  the 
articles  it  was  first  used  for,  but  in  many  Dtliers — in  arms, 
tools,  and  utensils  of  various  kinds  :  and  so  affects  tjio 
manufacture  of  them.  Further,  it  affects  the  processes 
which  these  utensils  subserve,  and  the  resulting  products, 
— modifies  buildings,  carvings,  personal  decorations.  Yet 
rigain,  it  sets  going  manufactures  which  were  before  im- 
possible, from  lack  of  a  material  fit  for  the  requisite  imple- 
ments. And  all  these  changes  react  on  the  people — increase 
their  manipulative  skill,  their  intelligence,  their  comfort,— 
refine  their  habits  and  tastes.  Thus  the  evolution  of  a 
homogeneous  society  into  a  heterogeneous  one,  is  clearly 
consequent  on  the  general  principle,  that  many  eflfects  are 
produced  by  one  cause. 

Space  permitting,  we  might  show  how  the  localization  of 
special  industries  in  special  parts  of  a  kingdom,  as  well  as 
the  minute  subdivision  of  labour  in  the  making  of  each 
commodity,  are  similarly  determined.  Or,  turning  to  a 
somewhat  different  order  of  illustrations,  we  might  dwell 
on  the  multitudinous  changes — material,  intellectual,  moral, 
— caused  by  printing;  or  the  further  extensive  series  of 
changes  wrought  by  gunpowder.  But  leaving  the  inter- 
mediate phases  of  social  development,  let  us  take  a  few 
illustrations  from  its  most  recent  and  its  passing  phases. 
f  To  trace  the  effects  of  steam-power,  in  its  manifold  applica- 
tions to  mining,  navigation,  and  manufactures  of  all  kinds, 
would  carry  us  into  unmanageable  detail.  Let  us  confino 
ourselves  to  the  latest  embodiment  of  steam  power — tho 
locomotive  engine.  This,  as  the  proximate  cause  of  our 
railway  system,  has  changed  the  face  of  the  country,  the 
course  of  trade,  and  the  habits  of  the  people.  Consider, 
first,  the  complicated  sets  of  changes  that  precede  the 
making  of  every  railway — the  provisional  arrangements, 
the  meetings,  the  registration,  the  trial  section,  the 
parliamentary  survey,  the  lithographed  plans,  the  books  of 
reference,  the  local  deposits  and  notices,  the  application  to 


PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  57 

Parliament,  the  passing  Standing  Orders  Committee,  tlie 
first,  second,  and  third  readings  :  each  of  which  brief  heads 
indicates  a  multiplicity  of  transactions,  and  the  extra 
development  of  sundry  occupations — as  those  of  engineers, 
surveyors,  lithographers,  parliamentary  agents,  share- 
brokers;  and  the  creation  of  sundry  others — as  those  of 
traffic-takers,  reference-takers.  Consider,  next,  the  yet 
more  marked  changes  implied  in  railway  construction — the 
cuttiiigs,  embankings,  tunnellings,  diversions  of  roads ; 
the  building  of  bridges  and  stations,  the  laying  down  of 
ballast,  sleepers,  and  rails;  the  making  of  engines,  tenders, 
carriages,  and  waggons :  which  processes,  acting  on 
numerous  trades,  increase  the  importation  of  timber,  the 
quarrying  of  stone,  the  manufacture  of  iron,  the  mining  of 
coal,  the  burning  of  bricks ;  institute  a  variety  of  special 
manufactures  weekly  advertised  in  the  Railway  Tiynes ; 
and,  finally,  open  the  way  to  sundry  new  occupations,  as 
those  of  drivers,  stokers,  cleaners,  plate-layers,  &c.,  &c. 
And  then  consider  the  changes,  still  more  numerous 
and  involved,  which  railways  in  action  produce  on  the 
community  at  large.  Business  agencies  are  established 
where  previously  they  would  not  have  paid ;  goods  are 
obtained  from  remote  wholesale  houses  instead  of  near 
retail  ones ;  and  commodities  are  used  which  distance  once 
rendered  inaccessible.  Again,  the  diminished  cost  of 
carriage  tends  to  specialize  more  than  ever  the  industries 
of  different  districts — to  confine  each  manufacture  to  the 
parts  in  which,  from  local  advantages,  it  can  be  best 
carried  on.  Further,  the  fall  in  freights,  facilitating 
distribution,  equalizes  prices,  and  also,  on  the  average, 
lowers  prices :  thus  bringing  divers  articles  within  the 
means  of  those  before  unable  to  buy  them,  and  so  increasing 
their  comforts  and  improving  their  habits.  At  the  same 
time  the  practice  of  travelling  is  immensely  extended. 
People  who  never  before  dreamed  of  it,  take  trips  to  tlu' 
Bca ;  visit  their  distant  relations;  make  tours;  and  so  wo 


58  PROGRESS  :    ITS    LAW   AND   CAUSE. 

are  benefited  in  body,  feelings,  and  ideas.  The  more 
prompt  transmission  of  letters  and  of  news  produces  other 
marked  changes — makes  the  pulse  of  the  nation  faster. 
Once  more,  there  arises  a  wide  dissemination  of  cheap 
literature  through  railway  book-stalls,  and  of  advertisements 
in  railway  carriages  :  both  of  them  aiding  ulterior  progress. 
And  the  countless  changes  here  briefly  indicated  are 
consequent  on  the  invention  of  the  locomotive  engine.  The 
social  organism  has  been  rendered  more  heterogeneous  in 
virtue  of  the  many  new  occupations  introduced,  and  the 
many  old  ones  further  specialized;  prices  of  nearly  all 
things  in  everyplace  have  been  altered;  each  trader  has 
modified  his  way  of  doing  business ;  and  every  person  has 
been  affected  in  his  actions,  thoughts,  emotions. 

Illustrations  to  the  same  effect  might  be  indefinitely 
accumulated,  but  they  are  needless.  The  only  further  fact 
demanding  notice,  is,  that  we  here  see  still  more  clearly  the 
truth  before  pointed  out,  that  in  proportion  as  the  area  on 
which  any  force  expends  itself  becomes  heterogeneous,  the 
results  are  in  a  yet  higher  degree  multiplied  in  number  and 
kind.  While  among  the  simple  tribes  to  whom  it  was  first 
known,  caoutchouc  caused  but  few  changes,  among  our- 
selves the  changes  have  been  so  many  and  varied  that  the 
history  of  them  occupies  a  volume.''^  Upon  the  small, 
homogeneous  community  inhabiting  one  of  the  Hebrides, 
the  electric  telegraph  would  produce,  were  it  used,  scarcely 
any  results ;  but  in  England  the  results  it  produces  are 
multitudinous.  The  comparatively  simple  organization 
under  which  our  ancestors  lived  five  centuries  ago,  could 
have  undergone  but  few  modifications  from  an  event  like 
the  recent  one  at  Canton ;  but  now,  the  legislative  decision 
respecting  it  sets  up  many  hundreds  of  complex  modifications, 
each  of  which  will  be  the  parent  of  numerous  future  ones. 

Space  permitting,  we  could  willingly  have  pursued  the 

*  '*  Personal  Narrative  of  the  Origin  of  the  Caoutchouc,  or  India-Eubbet 
Manufacture  in  England."    By  Thomas  Hancock. 


PROGRESS:    ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE.  59 

argument  in  relation  to  all  the  subtler  results  of  civilization. 
As  before  we  showed  that  the  law  of  progress  to  which 
the  organic  and  inorganic  worlds  conform,  is  also  conformed 
to  by  Language,  the  plastic  arts.  Music,  &c. ;  so  might  we 
here  show  that  the  cause  which  we  have  hitherto  found  to 
determine  progress  holds  in  these  cases  also.  Instances 
might  be  given  proving  how,  in  Science,  an  advance  of 
one  division  presently  advances  other  divisions — how 
Astronomy  has  been  immensely  forwarded  by  discoveries 
in  Optics,  while  other  optical  discoveries  have  initiated 
Microscopic  Anatomy,  and  greatly  aided  the  growth  of 
Physiology — how  Chemistry  has  indirectly  increased  our 
knowledge  of  Electricity,  Magnetism,  Biology,  Greology — 
how  Electricity  has  reacted  on  Chemistry  and  Magnetism, 
and  has  developed  our  views  of  Light  and  Heat.  In 
Literature  the  same  truth  might  be  exhibited  in  the 
manifold  eifects  of  the  primitive  mystery-pla}^,  as  origin- 
ating the  modern  drama,  which  has  variously  branched;  or 
in  the  still  multiplying  forms  of  periodical  literature  which 
have  descended  from  the  first  newspaper,  and  which  have 
severally  acted  and  reacted  on  other  forms  of  literature 
and  on  each  other.  The  influence  which  a  new  school  of 
Painting — as  that  of  the  pre-Raffaelites — exercises  upon 
other  schools ;  the  hints  which  all  kinds  of  pictorial  art  are 
deriving  from  Photography;  the  complex  results  of  new 
critical  doctrines,  as  those  of  Mr.  Ruskin,  might  severally  be 
dwelt  upon  as  displaying  the  like  multiplication  of  effects. 

But  we  venture  to  think  our  case  is  already  made  out. 
The  imperfections  of  statement  which  brevity  has  necessi- 
tated, do  not,  we  believe,  invalidate  the  propositions  laid 
down.  The  qualifications  here  and  there  demanded  would 
not,  if  made,  aifect  the  inferences.  Though,  in  tracing  the 
genesis  of  progress,  we  have  frequently  spoken  of  complex 
causes  as  if  they  were  simple  ones ;  it  still  remains  true 
that  such  causes  are  far  less  complex  than  their  results. 
Detailed  criticisms  do  not  affect  our  main  position.     Endless 


•  60  PKOGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

facts  go  to  sliow  that  every  kind  of  progress  is  from  the 
homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous ;  and  that  it  is  so 
because  each  change  is  followed  by  many  changes.  And 
it  is  significant  that  where  the  facts  are  most  accessible  and 
abundant,  there  these  truths  are  most  manifest. 

However,  to  avoid  committing  ourselves  to  more  than  ig 

yet  proved,  we  must  be  content  with  saying  that  such  are 

the  law  and  the  cause  of  all  progress  that  is  known  to  us. 

Should  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  ever  be   established,  then 

t  it  will  become  manifest  that  the  Universe  at  large,  like 

every  organism,  was  once  homogeneous ;  that  as  a  whole, 

\  and  in  every  detail,  it  has  unceasingly  advanced  towards 

V^reater  heterogeneity.     It   will   be    seen  that   as  in  each 

event  of  to-day,  so  from  the  beginning,  the  decomposition 

of   every   expended   force   into    several    forces    has    been 

perpetually  producing   a   higher   complication ;    that   tho 

increase  of  heterogeneity  so  brought  about  is  still  going  on 

and  must  continue  to  go  on  ;  and  that  thus  progress  is  not 

an   accident,    not   a   thing   within    human  control,    but  a 

beneficent  necessity. 

A  few  words  must  be  added  on  the  ontological  bearings 
of  our  argument.  Probably  not  a  few  will  conclude  that 
here  is  an  attempted  solution  of  the  groat  questions  with 
which  Philosophy  in  all  ages  has  perplexed  itself.  Let 
none  thus  deceive  themselves.  After  all  that  has  been 
said,  the  ultimate  mystery  remains  just  as  it  was.  The 
explanation  of  that  which  is  explicable,  does  but  bring  out 
into  greater  clearness  the  inexplicableness  of  that  which 
remains  behind.  Little  as  it  seems  to  do  so,  fearless 
inquiry  tends  continually  to  give  a  firmer  basis  to  all  true 
lleligion.  The  timid  sectarian,  obliged  to  abandon  one  by 
one  the  superstitions  bequeathed  to  him,  and  daily  finding 
his  cherished  beliefs  more  and  more  shaken,  secretly  fears 
that  all  things  may  some  day  be  explained;  and  has  a 
corresponding  dread  of  Science :   thus  evincing  the  pro- 


PKOGRESS  :     ITS    LAW    AND    CAUSE.  61 

foundest  of  all  infidelity — the  fear  lest  tlie  truth  be  bad. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  sincere  man  of  science,  content  to 
follow  wherever  the  evidence  leads  him,  becomes  by  each 
new  inquiry  more  profoundly  convinced  that  the  Universe 
is  an  insoluble  problem.  Alike  in  the  external  and  the 
internal  worlds,  he  sees  himself  in  the  midst  of  ceaseless 
changes,  of  which  he  can  discover  neither  beginning  nor 
end.  If,  tracing  back  the  evolution  of  things,  he  allows 
himself  to  entertain  the  hypothesis  that  all  matter  once 
existed  in  a  diffused  form,  he  finds  it  impossible  to  conceive 
how  this  came  to  be  so;  and  equally,  if  he  speculates  on 
the  future,  he  can  assign  no  limit  to  the  grand  succession 
of  phenomena  ever  unfolding  themselves  before  him. 
Similarly,  if  he  looks  inward,  he  perceives  that  both 
terminations  of  the  thread  of  consciousness  are  beyond  his 
grasp :  he  cannot  remember  when  or  how  consciousness 
commenced,  and  he  cannot  examine  the  consciousness  at 
any  moment  existing ;  for  only  a  state  of  consciousness 
which  is  already  past  can  become  the  object  of  thought, 
and  never  one  which  is  passing.  When,  again,  he  turns 
from  the  succession  of  phenomena,  external  or  internal,  to 
their  essential  nature,  he  is  equally  at  fault.  Though  he 
may  succeed  in  resolving  all  properties  of  objects  into 
manifestations  of  force,  he  is  not  thereby  enabled  to  con- 
ceive what  force  is ;  but  finds,  on  the  contrary,  that  the 
more  he  thinks  about  it,  the  more  he  is  baffled.  Similarly, 
though  analysis  of  mental  actions  may  finally  bring  him 
down  to  sensations  as  the  original  materials  out  of  which 
all  thought  is  woven,  he  is  none  the  forwarder;  for  ho 
cannot  in  the  least  comprehend  sensation.  Inward  and 
outward  things  he  thus  discovers  to  be  alike  inscrutable  in 
their  ultimate  genesis  and  nature.  lie  sees  that  the 
Materialist  and  Spiritualist  controversy  is  a  mere  war  of 
words;  the  disputants  being  equally  absurd — each  believ- 
ing he  understands  that  which  it  is  impossible  for  any  man 
to  understand.     In  all  directions  his  iuvesti":atious  cvcu- 


62  PROGRESS  :     ITS    LAW   AND    CAUSE. 

tually  bring  liim  face  to  face  with  the  unknowable ;  and  he 
ever  more  clearly  perceives  it  to  be  the  unknowable.  He 
learns  at  once  the  greatness  and  the  littleness  of  human 
intellect — its  power  in  dealing  with  all  that  comes  within 
the  range  of  experience  ;  its  impotence  in  dealing  with  all 
that  transcends  experience.  He  feels  more  vividly  than 
any  others  can  feel^  the  utter  incomprehensibleness  of  the 
simplest  fact,  considered  in  itself.  He  alone  truly  sees  that 
absolute  knowledge  is  impossible.  He  alone  Icnows  that 
under  all  things  there  hes  an  impenetrable  mystery. 


TRANSCENDENTAL  PHYSIOLOGY. 

\_First  puhlisJied  in  The  National  Review /or  October,  1857,  binder 
the  title  of  "  The  Ultimate  Laws  of  Physiology  ".  The  title 
"  Transcendental  Physiology  ",  which  the  editor  did  not  approve, 
was  restored  lohen  the  essay  was  re-published  with  others  in  1857.] 

The  title  Transcendental  Anatomy  is  used  to  distinguish 
tliat  division  of  biological  science  which  treats,  not  of  the 
structures  of  individual  organisms  considered  separately, 
but  of  the  general  principles  of  structure  common  to  vast 
and  varied  groups  of  organisms, — the  unity  of  plan  dis- 
cernible throughout  multitudinous  species,  genera,  and 
orders,  which  differ  widely  in  appearance.  And  here,  under 
the  head  of  Transcendental  Physiology,  we  purpose  putting 
together  sundry  laws  of  development  and  function  which 
hold  not  of  particular  kinds  or  classes  of  organisms,  but  of 
all  organisms  :  laws,  some  of  which  have  not,  we  believe, 
been  hitherto  enunciated. 

By  way  of  unobtrusively  introducing  the  general  reader 
to  biological  truths  of  this  class,  let  us  begin  by  noticing 
one  or  two  with  which  he  is  familiar.  Take  first,  the 
relation  between  the  activity  of  an  organ  and  its  growth. 
This  is  a  universal  relation.  It  holds,  not  only  of  a  bone,  a 
muscle,  a  nerve,  an  organ  of  sense,  a  mental  faculty;  but 
of  every  gland,  every  viscus,  every  element  of  the  body.  It 
is  seen,  not  in  man  only,  but  in  each  animal  which  affords 
us  adequate  opportunity  of  tracing  it.  Always  providing 
that  the  performance  of  function  is  not  so  excessive  as  to 
produce  disorder,  or  to  exceed  the  repairing  powers  either 
of  the  system  at  large  or  of  the  particular  agencies  by 
"which  nutriment  is  brought  to  the  organ, — always  providing 


64  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

this,  it  is  a  law  of  organized  bodies  that,  other  things  equal, 
development  varies  as  function.  On  this  law  are  based  all 
maxims  and  methods  of  right  education,  intellectual,  moral, 
and  physical ;  and  when  statesmen  are  wise  enough  to  seo 
it,  this  law  will  be  found  to  underlie  all  right  legislation. 

Another  truth  co-extensive  with  the  organic  world,  is 
that  of  hereditary  transmission.  It  is  not,  as  commonly 
supposed,  that  hereditary  transmission  is  exemplified  merely 
in  re-appearance  of  the  family  peculiarities  displayed  by 
immediate  or  remote  progenitors.  Nor  does  the  law  of 
hereditary  transmission  comprehend  only  such  more  general 
facts  as  that  modified  plants  or  animals  become  the  parents 
of  permanent  varieties  ;  and  that  new  kinds  of  potatoes, 
new  breeds  of  sheep,  new  races  of  men,  have  been  thus 
originated.  These  are  but  minor  exemplifications  of  tho 
law.  Understood  in  its  entirety,  the  law  is  that  each  plant 
or  animal  produces  others  of  like  kind  with  itself :  the 
likeness  of  kind  consisting  not  so  much  in  the  repetition  of 
individual  traits  as  in  the  assumption  of  the  same  general 
structure.  This  truth  has  been  made  by  daily  illustration 
so  familiar  as  nearly  to  have  lost  its  significance.  That 
wheat  produces  wheat, — that  existing  oxen  are  descended 
from  ancestral  oxen, — that  every  unfolding  organism 
ultimately  takes  the  form  of  the  class,  order,  genus,  and 
species  from  which  it  sprang ;  is  a  fact  which,  by  force  of 
repetition,  has  assumed  in  our  minds  the  character  of  a 
necessity.  It  is  in  this,  however,  that  the  law  of  hereditary 
transmission  is  principally  displayed ;  the  phenomena  com- 
monly named  as  exemplifying  it  being  quite  subordinate 
manifestations.  And  the  law,  as  thus  understood,  is 
universal.  Not  forgetting  the  apparent,  but  only  apparent, 
exceptions  presented  by  the  strange  class  of  phenomena 
known  as  "alternate  generation,"  the  truth  that  like 
produces  like  is  common  to  all  types  of  organisms. 

Let  us  take  next  a  universal  physiological  law  of  a  less 
conspicuous  kind.     To  the  ordinary  observer,  it  seems  that 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  65 

tlie  multiplication  of  organisms  proceeds  in  various  ways. 
lie  sees  that  the  young  of  the  higher  animals  when  born 
rpsemble  their  parents  ;  that  birds  lay  eggs^  which  thoy 
foster  and  hatch;  that  fish  deposit  spawn  and  leave  it. 
Among  plants,  he  finds  that  while  in  some  cases  new 
individuals  grow  from  seeds  only,  in  other  cases  they  also 
grow  from  tubers;  that  by  certain  plants  layers  are  sent 
out,  take  root,  and  develop  new  individuals ;  and  that 
many  plants  can  be  reproduced  from  cuttings.  Further,  in 
the  mould  that  quickly  covers  stale  food,  and  the  infusoria 
that  soon  swarm  in  water  exposed  to  air  and  light,  he  see3 
a  mode  of  generation  which,  seeming  inexplicable,  he  is  apt 
to  consider  "spontaneous."  The  reader  of  popular  science 
thinks  the  modes  of  reproduction  still  more  various.  He 
learns  that  whole  tribes  of  creatures  multiply  by  gemmation  | 
— ^by  a  development  from  the  body  of  the  parent  of  buds 
which,  after  unfolding  into  the  parental  form,  separate  and 
lead  independent  lives.  Concerning  microscopic  forms  of 
both  animal  and  vegetal  life,  he  reads  that  the  ordinary 
mode  of  multiplication  is  by  spontaneous  fission — a  splitting 
up  of  the  original  individual  into  two  or  more  individuals, 
which  by  and  by  severally  repeat  the  process.  Still  more 
remarkable  are  the  cases  in  which,  as  in  the  Aphis,  an  eg(j:; 
gives  rise  to  an  imperfect  female,  from  which  other  imper- 
fect females  are  born  viviparously,  grow,  and  in  their  turns 
bear  other  imperfect  females ;  and  so  on  for  eight,  ten,  or 
more  generations,  until  finally,  perfect  males  and  females  are 
viviparously  produced.  But  now  under  all  these,  and  many 
more,  modified  modes  of  multiplication,  the  physiologist  finds 
complete  uniformity.  The  starting-point,  not  only  of  every 
higher  animal  or  plant,  but  of  every  clan  of  organisms  which 
by  fission  or  gemmation  have  sprung  from  a  single  organism, 
...is  always  a  sj)ore,  seed,  or  ovum.  The  millions  of  infusor.a 
or  of  aphides  which,  by  sub-division  or  gemmation,  have 
proceeded  from  one  individual;  the  countless  plants  wlricU 
have  been  successively  propagated  from  one  original  plant 


66  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

by  cuttings  or  tubers ;  are,  in  common  with  tlie  highest 
creature,  primarily  descended  from  a  fertilized  germ.  And 
in  all  cases — in  the  humblest  alga  as  in  the  oak,  in  the 
protozoon  as  in  the  mammal — this  fertilized  germ  residts 
from  the  union  of  the  contents  of  two  cells.  Whether,  as 
among  the  lowest  forms  of  life,  these  two  cells  are 
seemingly  identical  in  nature;  or  whether,  as  among 
higher  forms,  they  are  distinguishable  into  sperm-cell  and 
germ-cell ;  it  remains  throughout  true  that  from  their 
combination  results  the  mass  out  of  which  is  evolved  a  new 
organism  or  new  series  of  organisms.  That  this  law  is 
without  exception  we  are  not  prepared  to  say;  for  in  the 
case  of  the  Aphis  certain  experiments  are  thought  to  imply 
that  under  special  conditions  the  descendants  of  an  original 
individual  may  continue  multiplying  for  ever,  without 
further  fecundation.  But  we  know  of  no  case  where  it 
actually  is  so ;  for  although  there  are  certain  plants  of 
which  the  seeds  have  never  been  seen,  it  is  more  probable 
that  our  observations  are  in  fault  than  that  these  plants  are 
exceptions.  And  until  we  find  undoubted  exceptions,  the 
above-stated  induction  must  stand.  Here,  then,  we  have 
another  of  the  truths  of  Transcendental  Physiology :  a 
truth  which,  so  far  as  we  know,  transcends  all  distinctions 
of  genus,  order^  class,  kingdom,  and  applies  to  every 
living  thing. 

Yet  another  generalization  of  like  universality  expresses 
the  process  of  organic  development.  To  the  ordinary 
observer  there  seems  no  unity  in  this.  No  obvious  parallel- 
ism exists  between  the  unfolding  of  a  plant  and  the 
unfolding  of  an  animal.  There  is  no  manifest  similarity 
between  the  development  of  a  mammal,  which  proceeds 
without  break  from  its  first  to  its  last  stage,  and  that  of  aa 
insect,  which  is  divided  into  strongly-marked  stages — egg, 
larva,  pupa,  imago.  Nevertheless  it  is  now  an  established 
fact,  that  all  organisms  are  evolved  after  one  general 
method.     At  the  outset  the  germ  of  every  plant  or  animal 


TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY.  67 

is  relatively  homogeneous  ;  and  advance  towards  maturity 
is  advance  towards  greater  heterogeneity.  Each  organized 
thing  commences  as  an  almost  structureless  mass,  and 
reaches  its  ultimate  complexity  by  the  establishment  of 
distinctions  upon  distinctions, — by  the  divergence  of  tissues 
from  tissues  and  organs  from  organs.  Here,  then,  we  have 
yet  another  biological  law  of  transcendent  generality. 

Having  thus  recognized  the  scope  of  Transcendental 
Physiology  as  presented  in  its  leading  truths,  we  are 
prepared  for  the  considerations  that  are  to  follow. 

And  first,  returning  to  the  last  of  the  great  generaliza- 
tions above  given,  let  us  inquire  more  nearly  how  this  change 
from  the  homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous  is  carried 
on.  Usually  it  is  said  to  result  from  successive  differentia- 
tions. This,  however,  cannot  be  considered  a  complete 
account  of  the  process.  During  the  evolution  of  an 
organism  there  occur,  not  only  separations  of  parts,  but 
coalescences  of  parts.  There  is  not  only  segregation,  but 
aggregation.  The  heart,  at  first  a  simple  pulsating  blood- 
vessel, by  and  by  twists  upon  itself  and  becomes  integrated. 
The  bile-cells  constituting  the  rudimentary  liver,  do  not 
merely  diverge  from  the  surface  of  the  intestine  in  which 
they  at  first  form  a  simple  layer;  but  they  simultaneously 
consolidate  into  a  definite  organ.  And  the  gradual  con- 
centration seen  in  these  and  other  cases  is  a  part  of  the 
developmental  process — a  part  which,  though  more  or  less 
recognized  by  Milne-Edwards  and  others,  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  included  as  an  essential  element  in  it. 

This  progressive  integration,  manifest  alike  when  tracing 
up  the  several  stages  passed  through  by  every  embryo, 
and  when  ascending  from  the  lower  organic  forms  to  the 
higher,  may  be  most  conveniently  studied  under  several 
heads.  Let  us  consider  first  what  may  be  called  longi' 
iudinal  integration. 

The  lower  Annulosa — worms,  myriapods,  &c. — are  cha- 


68  TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

racterized  by  tlie  great  numbers  of  segments  of  wlilcli  thoy 
respectively  consist,  reaclii ng  in  some  cases  to  several 
hundreds;  but  as  we  advauce  to  the  higher  Annulo.-^a — cen- 
tipedes, crustaceans,  insects,  spiders, — we  find  these  numbers 
greatly  reduced,  down  to  twenty-two,  thirteen,  and  even 
fewer;  and  accompanying  this  there  is  a  shortening  or 
integration  of  the  whole  body,  reaching  its  extreme  in 
crabs  and  spiders.  Similarly  with  the  development  of  an 
individual  crustacean  or  insect.  The  thorax  of  a  lobster, 
which,  in  the  adult,  forms,  with  the  head,  one  compact  box 
containing  the  viscera,  is  made  up  by  the  union  of  a  number 
of  segments  which  in  the  embryo  were  separable.  The 
thirteen  distinct  divisions  seen  in  the  body  of  a  caterpillar, 
become  further  integrated  in  the  butterfly  :  several  segments 
are  consolidated  to  form  the  thorax,  and  the  abdominal  seg- 
ments are  more  aggregated  than  they  originally  were.  The 
like  truth  is  seen  when  we  pass  to  the  internal  organs.  In 
the  lower  annulose  forms,  and  in  the  larva3  of  the  higher 
ones,  the  alimentary  canal  consists  either  of  a  tube  that  is 
uniform  from  end  to  end,  or  else  bulges  into  a  succession  of 
stomachs,  one  to  each  segment ;  but  in  the  developed  forms 
there  is  a  single  well-defined  stomach.  In  the  nervous, 
vascular,  and  respiratory  systems  a  parallel  concentration 
may  be  traced.  Again,  in  the  development  of  the  Vertehrata 
we  have  sundry  examples  of  longitudinal  integration.  The 
coalescence  of  several  segmental  groups  of  bones  to  form 
the  skull  is  one  instance  of  it.  It  is  further  illustrated  in 
the  OS  coccygis,  which  results  from  the  fusion  of  a  number  of 
caudal  vertebrEe.  And  in  the  consolidation  of  the  sacral 
vertebree  of  a  bird  it  is  also  well  exemplified. 

That  which  we  may  distinguish  as  transverse  integratioUf 
is  well  illustrated  among  the  Annulosa  in  the  development 
of  the  nervous  system.  Leaving  out  those  simple  forms 
which  do  not  present  distinct  ganglia,  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  the  lower  annulose  aniinal.5,  in  common  with  the  larvas 
of    the   higher,   are    severally    characterized   by   a   double 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PnYSIOLOGY.  69 

cTiain  of  j^angUa  running  from  end  to  end  of  the  body; 
while  in  tke  more  advanced  annulose  animals  this  double 
chain  becomes  a  single  chain.  Mr,  N-eAvport  has  described 
the  course  of  this  concentration  in  insects ;  and  by 
Rathke  it  has  been  traced  in  crustaceans.  In  the  early 
stages  of  the  Antaais  fliiviatiUs,  or  common  cray-fish, 
there  is  a  pair  of  separate  ganglia  to  each  ring.  Of  the 
fourteen  pairs  belonging  to  the  head  and  thorax,  the 
three  pairs  in  advance  of  the  mouth  consolidate  into  one 
mass  to  form  the  brain,  or  cephalic  ganglion.  Meanwhile 
out  of  the  remainder,  the  first  six  pairs  severally  unite 
In  the  median  line,  while  the  rest  remain  more  or  less 
separate.  Of  these  six  double  ganglia  thus  formed,  the 
anterior  four  coalesce  into  one  mass;  the  remaining  two 
coalesce  into  another  mass  ;  and  then  these  two  masses 
coalesce  into  one.  Here  we  see  longitudinal  and  transverse 
integration  going  on  simultaneously ;  and  in  the  highest  crus- 
taceans they  are  both  carried  still  further.  The  Vertehrata 
exhibit  this  transverse  integration  in  the  development  of  the 
generative  system.  The  lowest  of  the  mammalia — the  Mono- 
treniata — in  common  with  birds,  have  oviducts  which  towards 
their  lower  extremities  are  dilated  into  cavities  severally  per- 
foruiingin  an  imperfect  way  the  function  of  auterus.  "Inthe 
Mars iipialia, thereis  a  closer  approximation  of  the  two  lateral 
sets  of  organs  on  the  median  line  ;  for  the  oviducts  converge 
towards  one  another  and  meet  (without  coalescing)  on  the 
median  line  ;  so  that  their  uterine  dilatations  are  in  contact 
with  each  other,  forming  a  true  'double  uterus.'  ....  As  wo 
ascend  the  series  of  'placental '  mammals,  we  find  the  lateral 
coalescence  becoming  gradually  more  and  more  complete. 
....  In  many  of  the  Rodentia,  the  uterus  still  remains  com- 
])lc'tely  divided  into  two  lateral  halves;  whilst  in  others,  these 
coalesce  at  their  lower  portion,  forming  a  rudiment  of  the  true 
'  body'  of  the  uterus  in  the  Human  subject.  This  part  increases 
at  the  expense  of  the  lateral  'cornua'  in  the  higher  Herbivora 
and  Carnivora;  but  even  in  the  lower  Quadrumana,the  uterua 


70  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

is  somewliat  cleft  at  its  summit.'**  And  this  process  of  trans- 
verse integration,  wliicli  is  still  more  striking  when  observed 
in  its  details,  is  accompanied  by  parallel  though  less  important 
changes  in  the  opposite  sex.  Once  more ;  in  the  increasing 
commissural  connexion  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres,  Avhich, 
tliough  separate  in  the  lower  vertebrata,  become  gradually 
]nore  united  in  the  higher,  we  have  another  instance.  And 
further  ones  of  a  different  order,  but  of  like  general 
implication,  are  supplied  by  the  vascular  system. 

Now  it  seems  to  us  that  the  various  kinds  of  integration 
here  exemplified,  which  are  commonly  set  down  as  so  many 
independent  phenomena,  ought  to  be  generalized,  and 
included  in  the  formula  describing  the  process  of  develop- 
ment. The  fact  that  in  an  adult  crab,  many  pairs  of 
ganglia  originally  separate  have  become  fused  into  a  single 
mass,  is  a  fact  only  second  in  significance  to  the  differentia- 
tion of  its  alimentary  canal  into  stomach  and  intestine.  That 
in  the  higher  Annulosa,  a  single  heart  replaces  the  string 
of  rudimentary  hearts  constituting  the  dorsal  blood-vessel 
in  the  lower  Annulosa,  (reaching  in  one  species  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred  and  sixty),  is  a  truth  as  much 
needing  to  be  comprised  in  the  history  of  evolution,  as  is 
the  formation  of  a  respiratory  surface  by  a  branched 
expansion  of  the  skin.  A  right  conception  of  the  genesis 
of  a  vertebral  column,  includes  not  only  the  differentiations 
from  which  result  the  chorda  dorsalis  and  the  vertebral 
segments  imbedded  in  it;  but  quite  as  much  it  includes  the 
coalescence  of  numerous  vertebral  processes  with  their 
respective  vertebral  bodies.  The  changes  in  virtue  of 
which  several  things  become  one,  demand  recognition 
equally  with  those  in  virtue  of  which  one  thing  becomes 
several.  Evidently,  then,  the  current  statement  which 
ascribes  the  developmeutal  progress  to  differentiations 
alone,  is  incomplete.     Adv  quately  to  express  the  facts,  we 

*  Carpenter's  Principles  of  Comparative  Physiology,  pp.  G16-17. 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  71 

must  say  that  tlie  transition  from  the  homogeneous  to 
the  heterogeneous  is  carried  on  by  differentiations  and 
accompanying  integrations. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  ask — What  is  the  meaning 
of  these  integrations  ?  The  evidence  seems  to  show  that  they 
are  in  some  way  dependent  on  community  of  function.  The 
eight  segments  which  coalesce  to  make  the  head  of  a 
centipede,  jointly  protect  the  cephalic  ganglion,  and  afford 
a  solid  fulcrum  for  the  jaws,  &c.  The  many  bones  which 
unite  to  form  a  vertebral  skull  have  like  uses.  In  the 
consolidation  of  the  several  pieces  which  constitute  a 
mammalian  pelvis,  and  in  the  anchylosis  of  from  ten  to 
nineteen  vertebrae  in  the  sacrum  of  a  bird,  we  have  kindred 
instances  of  the  integration  of  parts  which  transfer  the 
weight  of  the  body  to  the  legs.  The  more  or  less  extensive 
fusion  of  the  tibia  with  the  fibula  and  the  radius  with  the 
ulna  in  the  ungulated  mammals,  whose  habits  require 
only  partial  rotations  of  the  limbs,  is  a  fact  of  like 
meaning.  And  all  the  instances  lately  given — the  concen- 
l;ration  of  ganglia,  the  replacement  of  many  pulsating 
blood-sacs  by  fewer  and  finally  by  one,  the  fusion  of  two 
uteri  into  a  single  uterus — have  the  same  implication. 
Whether,  as  in  some  cases,  the  integration  is  merely  a 
consequence  of  the  growth  which  eventually  brings  into 
contact  adjacent  parts  performing  similar  duties  ;  or 
whether,  as  in  other  cases,  there  is  an  actual  approximation 
of  these  parts  before  their  union ;  or  whether,  as  in  yet 
other  cases,  the  integration  is  of  that  indirect  kind  which 
arises  when,  out  of  a  number  of  like  organs,  one,  or  a 
group,  discharges  an  ever-increasing  share  of  the  common 
function,  and  so  grows  while  the  rest  dwindle  and  dis- 
appear;— the  general  fact  remains  the  same,  that  there  is  't 
tendency  to  the  unification  of  parts  having  similar  duties. 

The  tendency,  however,  acts  under  limiting  conditions; 
and  recognition  of  them  will  explain  some  apparent  excep- 
tions. In  the  human  foetus,  as  in  the  lower  vertebrata,  the 
6 


72  TEANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

eyes  are  placed  one  on  eacli  side  of  tlie  head.  During 
evolution  they  become  relatively  nearer,  and  at  birth  are  in 
front;  though  they  are  still,  in  the  European  infant  as  in 
the  adult  Mongol,  proportionately  further  apart  than  they 
afterwards  become.  But  this  approximation  shows  no 
signs  of  further  increase.  Tvs^o  reasons  suggest  themselves. 
One  is  that  the  two  eyes  have  not  quite  the  same  function, 
since  they  are  directed  to  slightly-different  aspects  of 
each  object  looked  at;  and,  since  the  resulting  binocular 
.  vision  has  an  advantage  over  monocular  vision,  there 
results  a  check  upon  further  approach  towards  identity  of 
function  and  unity  of  structure.  The  other  reason  is 
that  the  interposed  structures  do  not  admit  of  any  nearer 
approach.  For  the  orbits  of  the  eyes  to  be  brought  closer 
together,  would  imply  a  decrease  in  the  olfactory  chambers; 
and  as  these  are  probably  not  larger  than  is  demanded  by 
their  present  functional  activity,  no  decrease  can  take 
place.  Again,  if  we  trace  up  the  external  organs  of  smell 
through  fishes,*  reptiles,  ungulate  mammals  and  unguicu- 
late  mammals,  to  man,  we  perceive  a  general  tendency  to 
coalescence  in  the  median  line;  and  on  comparing  the 
savage  with  the  civilized,  or  the  infant  with  the  adult,  we 
see  this  approach  of  the  nostrils  candied  furthest  in  the 
most  perfect  of  the  species.  But  since  the  septum  which 
divides  them  has  the  function  both  of  an  evaporating 
surface  for  the  lachrymal  secretion,  and  of  a  ramifying 
surface  for  a  nerve  ancillary  to  that  of  smell,  it  does  not 
disappear  entirely  :  the  integration  remains  incomplete. 
These  and  other  like  instances  do  not  however  militate 
against  the  hypothesis.  They  merely  show  that  the 
tendency  is  sometimes  antagonized  by  other  tendencies. 
Bearing  in  mind  which  qualification,  we  may  say,  that  as 

*  With  tlie  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  Myxinoid  fishes,  in  which  what  is 
considered  as  the  nasal  orifice  is  single,  and  on  the  median  line.  But  seeing 
how  unusual  is  the  position  of  this  orifice,  it  seems  questionable  whether  it 
is  the  true  honiologue  of  the  nostrils. 


TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY.  73 

differentiation  of  parts  is  connected  with  difference  of 
function,  so  there  appears  to  be  a  connexion  between 
integration  of  parts  and  sameness  of  function. 

Closely  related  to  the  general  truth  that  the  evolution  of 
oil  organisms  is  carried  on  by  combined  differentiations  and 
integrations,  is  another  general  truth,  which  physiologists 
appear  not  to  have  recognized.  When  we  look  .at  the 
organic  world  as  a  whole,  we  may  observe  that,  on  passing 
from  lower  to  higher  forms,  we  pass  to  forms  which  are  not 
only  characterized  by  a  greater  differentiation  of  parts,  but 
are  at  the  same  time  more  completely  differentiated  from 
the  surrounding  medium.  This  truth  may  be  contemplated 
under  various  aspects. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  illustrated  in  structure.  The 
advance  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous  itself 
involves  an  increasing  distinction  from  the  inorganic  world. 
In  the  lowest  Protozoa,  as  some  of  the  Rhizopods,  we  have 
a  homogeneity  approaching  to  that  of  air,  water,  or  earth ; 
and  the  ascent  to  organisms  of  greater  and  greater  com- 
plexity of  structure,  is  an  ascent  to  organisms  which  are 
in  that  respect  more  strongly  contrasted  with  the  relatively 
structureless  masses  in  the  environment. 

Inform  again  we  see  the  same  truth.  A  general  cha- 
racteristic of  inorganic  matter  is  its  indefiniteness  of  form, 
and  this  is  also  a  characteristic  of  the  lower  organisms,  as 
compared  with  the  higher.  Speaking  generally,  plants  are 
loss  definite  than  animals,  both  in  shape  and  size — admit 
of  greater  modifications  from  variations  of  position  and 
nutrition.  Among  animals,  the  Amoeha  and  its  allies  are 
not  only  almost  structureless,  but  are  amorphous ;  and  the 
irregular  form  is  constantly  changing.  Of  the  organisms 
resulting  from  the  aggregation  of  amoeba-like  creatures, 
we  find  that  while  some  assume  a  certain  definiteness  of  form, 
in  their  compound  shells  at  least,  others,  as  the  Sponges, 
are  irregular.      In  the  Zoophytes  and  in  the  Polyzoa,  we 


74 


TKANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 


Bee  compound  organisms,  most  of  which  have  modes  of 
growth  not  more  determinate  than  those  of  plants.  But 
among  the  higher  animals,  we  find  not  only  that  the  mature 
shape  of  each  species  is  quite  definite,  but  that  the  indi- 
viduals of  each  species  differ  very  little  in  size. 

A  parallel  increase  of  contrast  is  seen  iu  chemical  com* 
position.  With  but  few  exceptions,  and  those  only 
partial  ones,  the  lowest  animal  and  vegetal  forms  are 
inhabitants  of  the  water ;  and  water  is  almost  their  sole 
constituent.  Dessicated  Frotophyta  and  Protozoa  shrink 
into  mere  dust ;  and  among  the  acalephes  Ave  find 
but  a  few  grains  of  solid  matter  to  a  pound  of  water. 
The  higher  aquatic  plants,  in  common  with  the  higher 
aquatic  animals,  possessing  as  they  do  much  greater 
tenacity  of  substance,  also  contain  a  greater  propor- 
tion of  the  organic  elements ;  and  so  are  chemically  more 
unlike  their  medium.  And  when  we  pass  to  the  superior 
classes  of  organisms — land  plants  and  land  animals — we 
find  that,  chemically  considered,  they  have  little  in  common 
either  with  the  earth  on  which  they  stand  or  the  air  which 
surrounds  them. 

In  specific  gravity,  too,  we  may  note  the  like.  The  very 
simplest  forms,  in  common  with  the  spores  and  gemmules  of 
the  higher  ones,  are  as  nearly  as  may  be  of  the  same  specific 
gravity  as  the  water  in  which  they  float;  and  though  it 
cannot  be  said  that  among  aquatic  creatures  superior 
specific  gravity  is  a  standard  of  general  superiority,  yet  we 
may  fairly  say  that  the  superior  orders  of  them,  when 
divested  of  the  appliances  by  which  their  specific  gravity  ia 
regulated,  differ  more  from  water  in  their  relative  weights 
than  do  the  lower.  In  terrestrial  organisms,  the  contrast 
becomes  extremely  marked.  Trees  and  plants,  in  common 
with  insects,  reptiles,  mammals,  birds,  are  all  of  a  specific 
gravity  considerably  less  than  the  earth  and  immensely 
greater  than  tlie  air. 

We  see  the  law  similarly  fulfilled  in  respect  of  temperatiwe. 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  75 

Plants  generate  but  an  extremely  small  quantity  of  heat, 
which  is  to  be  detected  only  by  delicate  experiments ;  and 
practically  they  may  be  considered  as  being  in  this  respect 
like  their  environment.  Aquatic  animals  rise  very  little 
above  the  surrounding  water  in  temperature :  that  of  the 
invertebrata  being  mostly  less  than  a  degree  above  it,  and 
that  of  fishes  not  exceeding  it  by  more  than  two  or  three 
degrees,  save  in  the  case  of  some  large  red-blooded  fishes, 
as  the  tunny,  which  exceed  it  by  nearly  ten  degrees. 
Among  insects,  the  range  is  from  two  to  ten  degrees  above 
that  of  the  air :  the  excess  varying  according  to  their 
activity.  The  heat  of  reptiles  is  from  four  to  fifteen 
degrees  more  than  that  of  their  medium.  While  mammals 
and  birds  maintain  a  heat  which  continues  almost  unaffected 
by  external  variations,  and  is  often  greater  than  that  of  the 
air  by  seventy,  eighty,  ninety,  and  even  a  hundred  degrees. 
Once  more,  in  greater  seJf-mohility  a  progressive  differ- 
entiation is  traceable.  Dead  matter  is  inert :  some  form  of 
independent  motion  is  our  most  general  test  of  life. 
Passing  over  the  indefinite  border-land  between  the  animal 
and  vegetable  kingdoms,  we  may  roughly  class  plants  as 
organisms  which,  while  they  exhibit  the  kind  of  motion 
implied  in  growth,  are  not  only  Avithout  locomotive  power, 
but  in  nearly  all  cases  are  without  the  power  of  moving 
their  parts  in  relation  to  one  another;  and  thus  are  less 
differentiated  from  the  inorganic  world  than  animals. 
Though  in  those  microscopic  Protojihi/ia  and  Protozoa 
inhabiting  the  water — the  spores  of  alga3,  the  gemmules  of 
pponges,  and  the  infusoria  generally — we  see  locomotion 
produced  by  ciliary  action ;  yet  this  locomotion,  while 
rapid  relatively  to  their  sizes,  is  absolutely  slow.  Of  the 
Ccelenteraia,  a  great  part  are  either  permanently  rooted  or 
habitually  stationary,  and  so  have  scarcely  any  self-mobility 
but  that  implied  in  the  relative  movements  of  parts ;  while 
the  rest,  of  which  the  common  jelly-fish  serves  as  a  sample, 
have  mostly  but  little  ability  to  move  themselves  through 


76  TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

the  water.  Among  tlie  liiglier  aquatic  Invertehrata,—' 
cuttle-fishes  and  lobsters,  for  instance, — there  is  a  very- 
considerable  power  of  locomotion;  and  the  aquatic  Verte- 
hrata  are,  considered  as  a  class,  much  more  active  in 
their  movements  than  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  water. 
But  it  is  only  when  we  come  to  air-breathing  creatures  that 
we  find  the  vital  characteristic  of  self-mobility  manifested 
in  the  highest  degree.  Flying  insects,  mammals,  birds, 
travel  with  velocities  far  exceeding  those  attained  by  any 
of  the  lower  classes  of  animals ;  and  so  are  more  strongly 
contrasted  with  their  inert  environments. 

Thus,  on  contemplating  the  various  grades  of  organisms 
in  their  ascending  order,  we  find  them  more  and  more  distin- 
guished from  their  inanimate  media  in  structure^  in  form, 
in  chemical  composition,  in  specific  gravity,  in  temperature,  in 
self-mohility.  It  is  true  that  this  generalization  does  not 
hold  with  regularity.  Organisms  which  are  in  some 
respects  the  most  strongly  contrasted  with  the  inorganic 
world,  are  in  other  respects  less  contrasted  than  inferior 
organisms.  As  a  class,  mammals  are  higher  than  birds ; 
and  yet  they  are  of  lower  temperature,  and  have  smaller 
powers  of  locomotion.  The  stationary  oyster  is  of  higher 
organization  than  the  free-swimming  medusa ;  and  the 
cold-blooded  and  less  heterogeneous  fish  is  quicker  in  its 
movements  than  the  warm-blooded  and  more  heterogeneous 
sloth.  But  the  admission  that  the  several  aspects  under 
which  this  increasing  contrast  shows  itself  bear  variable 
ratios  to  one  another,  does  not  negative  the  general  truth 
enunciated.  Looking  at  the  facts  in  the  mass,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  successively  higher  groups  of  organisms 
are  severally  characterized,  not  only  by  greater  differentia- 
tion of  parts,  but  also  by  greater  differentiation  from  the 
surrounding  medium  in  sundry  other  physical  attributes. 
It  would  seem  that  this  peculiarity  has  some  necessary 
connexion  with  superior  vital  manifestations.  One  of  those 
lowly  gelatinous  forms  which  are  some  of  them  so  tran- 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  77' 

eparent  and  colourless  as  to  be  witli  difficulty  distinguished 
from  the  water  they  float  in,  is  not  more  like  its  medium  in 
chemical,  mechanical,  optical,  thermal,  and  other  properties, 
than  it  is  in  the  passivity  with  which  it  submits  to  all  the 
actions  brought  to  bear  on  it;  while  the  mammal  does 
not  more  widely  differ  from  inanimate  things  in  these 
properties  than  it  does  in  the  activity  with  which.it  meets 
surrounding  changes  by  compensating  changes  in  itself. 
Between  these  two  extremes,  we  see  a  tolerably  constant 
ratio  between  these  two  kinds  of  contrast.  In  proportion 
as  an  organism  is  physically  like  its  environment  it  remains 
a  passive  partaker  of  the  changes  going  on  in  its  environ- 
ment; while  in  proportion  as  it  is  endowed  with  powers  of 
counteracting  such  changes,  it  exhibits  greater  unlikeness 
to  its  environment. 

Thus  far  we  have  proceeded  inductively,  in  conformity 
with  established  usage  ;  but  it  seems  to  us  that  much  may 
be  done  in  this  and  other  departments  of  biologic  inquiry 
by  pursuing  the  deductive  method.  The  generalizations  at 
present  constituting  the  science  of  physiology,  both  general 
and  special,  have  been  reached  a  posteriori ;  but  certain 
fundamental  data  have  now  been  discovered,  starting  from 
which  we  may  reason  our  way  a  priori,  not  only  to  some  of 
the  truths  that  have  been  ascertained  by  observation  and 
experiment,  but  also  to  some  others.  The  possibility  of 
such  a  piriori  conclusions  will  be  at  once  recognized  on 
considering  some  familiar  cases. 

Chemists  have  shown  that  a  necessary  condition  to  vital 
activity  in  animals  is  oxidation  of  certain  matters  contained 
in  the  body  either  as  components  or  as  waste  products. 
The  oxygen  requisite  for  this  oxidation  is  contained  in  the 
surrounding  medium — air  or  water,  as  the  case  may  be.  If 
the  organism  be  minute,  mere  contact  of  its  external  surface 
with  the  oxygenated  medium  achieves  the  requisite  oxida- 
tion ;  but  if  the  organism  is  bulky,  and  so  exposes  a  surface 


78  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

"wliich  is  small  in  proportion  to  its  mass,  any  considerable 
oxidation  cannot  be  thus  achieved.  One  of  two  things  is 
therefore  implied.  Either  this  bulky  organism,  receiving 
no  oxygen  but  that  absorbed  through  its  integument,  must 
possess  but  little  vital  activity ;  or  else,  if  it  possesses 
much  vital  activity,  there  must  be  some  extensive  ramified 
surface,  internal  or  external,  through  which  adequate 
aeration  may  take  place — a  respiratory  apparatus.  That  is 
to  say,  lungs,  or  gills,  or  branchias,  or  their  equivalents, 
are  predicable  a  priori  as  possessed  by  all  active  creatures 
of  any  size. 

Similarly  with  respect  to  nutriment.  There  are  entozoa 
which,  living  in  the  insides  of  other  animals,  and  being  con- 
stantly bathed  by  nutritive  fluids,  absorb  a  sufficiency  through 
their  outer  surfaces ;  and  so  have  no  need  of  stomachs,  and 
do  not  possess  them.  But  all  other  animals,  inhabiting  media 
that  are  not  in  themselves  nutritive,  but  only  contain  masses 
of  food  here  and  there,  must  have  appliances  by  which  these 
masses  of  food  may  be  utilized.  Evidently  mere  external 
contact  of  a  solid  organism  with  a  solid  portion  of  nutriment, 
could  not  result  in  the  absorption  of  it  in  any  moderate  time, 
if  at  all.  To  effect  absorption,  there  must  be  both  a  solvent 
or  macerating  action,  and  an  extended  surface  fit  for 
containing  and  imbibing  the  dissolved  products  :  there 
must  be  a  digestive  cavity.  Thus,  given  the  ordinary 
conditions  of  animal  life,  and  the  possession  of  stomachs 
by  all  creatures  living  under  these  conditions  may  be  de- 
ductively known. 

Carrying  out  the  train  of  reasoning  still  further,  we  may 
infer  the  existence  of  a  vascular  system  or  something 
equivalent  to  it,  in  all  creatures  of  any  size  and  activity. 
In  a  comparatively  small  inert  animal,  such  as  the  hydra, 
which  consists  of  little  more  than  a  sac  having  a  double 
wall — an  outer  layer  of  cells  forming  the  skin,  and  an  inner 
layer  forming  the  digestive  and  absorbent  surface — there  is 
no  need  for  a  special  apparatus  to  diffuse  through  the  body 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  79 

the  aliment  taken  up ;  for  the  body  is  little  more  than  a 
wrapper  to  the  food  it  encloses.  But  where  the  bulk  is 
considerable,  or  where  the  activity  is  such  as  to  involve 
much  waste  and  rupair,  or  where  both  these  characteristic3 
exist,  there  is  a  necessity  for  a  system  of  blood-vessels. 
It  is  not  enough  that  there  be  adequately  extensive  surfaces 
for  absorption  and  aeration;  for  in  the  absence  of  any 
means  of  conveyance,  the  absorbed  elements  can  be  of  little 
or  no  use  to  the  organism  at  large.  Evidently  there  must 
be  channels  of  communication.  When,  as  in  the  Medusce, 
we  find  these  channels  of  communication  consisting  simply 
of  branched  canals  opening  out  of  the  stomach  and 
spreading  through  the  disk,  we  may  know,  a  priori,  that 
such  creatures  are  comparatively  inactive ;  seeing  that  the 
nutritive  liquid  thus  partially  distributed  throughout  their 
bodies  is  crude  and  dilute,  and  that  there  is  no  efficient 
appliance  for  keeping  it  in  motion.  Conversely,  when  we 
meet  with  a  creature  of  considerable  size  which  displays 
much  vivacity,  we  may  know,  a  priori,  that  it  must  have 
an  apparatus  for  the  unceasing  supply  of  concentrated 
nutriment,  and  of  oxygen,  to  every  organ — a  pulsating 
vascular  system. 

It  is  manifest,  then,  that  setting  out  from  certain  known 
fundamental  conditions  to  vital  activity,  we  may  deduce 
from  them  sundry  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  organized 
bodies.  Doubtless  these  known  fundamental  conditions 
Lave  been  inductively  established.  But  what  we  wish  to 
show  is  that,  given  these  inductively-established  primary 
facts  in  physiology,  we  may  with  safety  draw  certain 
general  deductions  from  them.  And,  indeed,  the  legitimacy 
of  such  deductions,  though  not  formally  acknowledged,  is 
practically  recognized  in  the  convictions  of  every  physio- 
logist, as  may  be  readily  proved.  Thus,  were  a  physiologist 
to  find  a  creature  exhibiting  complex  ajid  variously 
co-ordinated  movements,  and  yet  having  no  nervous  syston); 
he  would  be  less  astonished  at  the  breach  of  his  empirical 


80  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

generalization  that  all  sucli  creatures  have  nervous  systems), 
than  at  the  disproof  of  his  unconscious  deduction  that  all 
creatures  exhibiting  complex  and  variously  co-ordinated 
movements  must  have  an  "  internuncial "  apparatus  by 
which  the  co-ordination  may  be  effected.  Or  were  he  to 
find  a  creature  having  blood  rapidly  circulated  and  rapiilly 
aerated,  but  yet  showing  a  low  temperature,  the  proof  so 
afforded  that  active  change  of  matter  is  not,  as  he  had 
inferred  from  chemical  data,  the  cause  of  animal  heat, 
would  stagger  him  more  than  would  the  exception  to  a 
constantly-observed  relation.  Clearly,  then,  the  a  'priori 
method  already  plays  a  part  in  physiological  reasoning.  If 
not  ostensibly  employed  as  a  means  of  reaching  new  truths, 
it  is  at  least  privately  appealed  to  for  confirmation  of  truths 
reached  a  'posteriori. 

But  the  illustrations  above  given  go  far  to  show,  that  it 
may  to  a  considerable  extent  be  safely  used  as  an  inde- 
pendent instrument  of  research.  The  necessities  for  a 
nutritive  system,  a  respiratory  system,  and  a  vascular 
system,  in  all  animals  of  size  and  vivacity,  seem  to  us 
legitimately  inferable  from  the  conditions  to  continued 
vital  activity.  Given  the  physical  and  chemical  data,  and 
these  structural  peculiarities  may  be  deduced  with  as  much 
certainty  as  may  the  hollowness  of  an  iron  ball  from  its 
power  of  floating  in  water. 

It  is  not,  of  course,  asserted  that  the  more  special 
physiological  truths  can  be  deductively  reached.  Tho 
argument  by  no  means  implies  this.  Legitimate  deduction 
presupposes  adequate  data;  and  in  respect  to  the  special 
phenomena  of  organic  growth,  structure,  and  function, 
adequate  data  are  unattainable,  and  will  probably  ever 
remain  so.  It  is  only  in  the  case  of  the  more  general 
physiological  truths,  such  as  those  above  instanced,  where 
we  have  something  like  adequate  data,  that  deductive 
reasoning  becomes  possible. 

And  here  is  reached  the  stage  to  which  the  foregoing 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  81 

considerations  are  introductory.  We  propose  now  to  show 
that  there  are  certain  still  more  general  attributes  of 
organized  bodies,  which  are  deducible  from  certain  still 
more  general  attributes  of  things. 

In  an  essay  on  "  Progress :  its  Law  and  Cause/'  else- 
where published,*  we  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  the 
transformation  of  the  homogeneous  into  the  heterogeneous, 
in  which  all  progress,  organic  or  other,  essentially  consists, 
is  consequent  on  the  production  of  many  effects  by  one 
cause — many  changes  by  one  force.  Having  pointed  out 
that  this  is  a  law  of  all  things,  we  proceeded  to  show 
deductively  that  the  multiform  evolutions  of  the  homo- 
geneous into  the  heterogeneous — astronomic,  geologic, 
ethnologic,  social,  &c., — were  explicable  as  consequences. 
And  though  in  the  case  of  organic  evolution,  lack  of  data 
disabled  us  from  specifically  tracing  out  the  progressive 
complication  as  due  to  the  multiplication  of  effects ;  yet,  we 
found  sundry  indirect  evidences  that  it  was  so.  Now  in  so 
far  as  this  conclusion,  that  organic  evolution  results  from 
the  decomposition  of  each  expended  force  into  several  forces, 
was  inferred  from  the  general  laAV  previously  pointed  out, 
it  was  an  example  of  deductive  physiology.  The  particular 
was  concluded  from  the  universal. 

We  here  propose  in  the  first  place  to  show,  that  there  is 
another  general  truth  closely  connected  with  the  above; 
and  in  common  with  it  underlying  explanations  of  all 
progress,  and  therefore  the  progress  of  organisms — a  truth 
which  may  indced.be  considered  as  taking  precedence  of  it 
in  respect  of  time,  if  not  in  respect  of  generality.  This 
truth  is,  that  the  condition  of  honoijcneify  is  a  condition  of 
unstable  equilibrium. 

The  phrase  unstable  equilibrium  is  one  used  in  mechanics 


*  In   the  Westminster  Review    for  April,   1857 ;    and  now   reprinted   in 
this  volume. 


82  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

to  express  a  balance  of  forces  of  sucli  kind,  that  the  inter- 
ference of  any  further  force,  however  minute,  will  destroy 
the  arrangement  previously  existing,  and  bring  about  a 
different  arrangement.  Thus,  a  stick  poised  on  its  lower 
end  is  in  unstable  equilibrium  :  however  exactly  it  may  be 
placed  in  a  perpendicular  position,  as  soon  as  it  is  left  to 
itself  it  begins,  at  first  imperceptibly  and  then  visibly,  to 
lean  on  one  side,  and  with  increasing  rapidity  falls  into 
another  position.  Conversely,  a  stick  suspended  from  its 
upper  end  is  in  stable  equilibrium :  however  much  disturbed, 
it  will  return  to  the  same  position.  Our  meaning  is,  then, 
that  the  state  of  homogeneity,  like  the  state  of  the  stick 
poised  on  its  lower  end,  is  one  that  cannot  be  maintained ; 
and  that  hence  results  the  first  step  in  its  gravitation 
towards  the  heterogeneous.  Let  us  take  a  few  illustrations. 
Of  mechanical  ones  the  most  familiar  is  that  of  the 
scales.  If  accurately  made  and  not  clogged  by  dirt  or  rust, 
a  pair  of  scales  cannot  be  perfectly  balanced :  eventually 
one  scale  will  descend  and  the  other  ascend — they  Avill 
assume  a  heterogeneous  relation.  Again,  if  we  sprinkle 
over  the  surface  of  a  liquid  a  number  of  equal-sized 
particles,  having  an  attraction  for  one  another,  they  will, 
no  matter  how  uniformly  distributed,  by  and  by  concentrate 
irregularly  into  groups.  Were  it  possible  to  bring  a  mass 
of  water  into  a  state  of  perfect  homogeneity — a  state  of 
complete  quiescence,  and  exactly  equal  density  throughout 
— yet  the  radiation  of  heat  from  neighbouring  bodies,  by 
affecting  differently  its  different  parts,  would  soon  produce 
inequalities  of  density  and  consequent  currents ;  and  Avould 
BO  render  it  to  that  extent  heterogeneous.  Take  a  piece  of 
red-hot  matter,  and  however  evenly  heated  it  may  at  first  be, 
it  will  quickly  cease  to  be  so  :  the  exterior,  cooling  faster  than 
the  interior,  will  become  different  in  temperature  from  it. 
And  the  lapse  into  heterogeneity  of  temperature,  so  obvious 
in  this  extreme  case,  is  ever  taking  place  more  or  less  in  all 
cases.     The  actions  of  chemical  forces  supply  other  illus* 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  83 

trations.  Expose  a  fragment  of  metal  to  air  or  water,  and 
in  course  of  time  it  will  be  coated  with  a  j61m  of  oxide, 
carbonate,  or  otlier  compound  :  its  outer  parts  will  become 
unlike  its  inner  parts.  Thus,  every  homogeneous  aggregate 
of  matter  tends  to  lose  its  balance  in  some  way  or  other — 
either  mechanically,  chemically,  thermally  or  electrically; 
and  the  rapidity  with  which  it  lapses  into  a  non-homo- 
geneous state  is  simply  a  question  of  time  and  circumstances. 
Social  bodies  illustrate  the  law  with  like  constancy.  Endow 
the  members  of  a  community  with  equal  properties, 
positions,  powers,  and  they  will  forthwith  begin  to  slide 
into  inequalities.  Be  it  in  a  representative  assembly,  a 
railway  board,  or  a  private  partnership,  the  homogeneity, 
though  it  may  continue  in  name,  inevitably  disappears 
in  reality. 

The  instability  thus  variously  illustrated  becomes  still 
more  manifest  if  we  consider  its  rationale.  It  is  consequent 
on  the  fact  that  the  several  parts  of  any  homogeneous  mass 
are  necessarily  exposed  to  different  forces — forces  which 
differ  either  in  their  kinds  or  amounts;  and  being  exposed 
to  different  forces  they  are  of  necessity  differently  modified. 
The  relations  of  outside  and  inside,  and  of  comparative 
nearness  to  neighbouring  sources  of  influence,  imply  the 
reception  of  influences  which  are  unlike  in  quantity  or 
quality  or  both ;  and  it  follows  that  unlike  changes  will  be 
wrought  in  the  parts  dissimilarly  acted  upon.  The  unstable 
equilibrium  of  any  homogeneous  aggregate  can  thus  be 
shown  both  inductively  and  deductively. 

And  now  let  us  consider  the  bearing  of  this  general 
truth  on  the  evolution  of  organisms.  The  germ  of  a  plant  or 
animal  is  one  of  these  homogeneous  aggregates — relatively 
homogeneous  if  not  absolutely  so — whose  equilibrium  is 
unstable.  But  it  has  not  simply  the  ordinary  instability  of 
homogeneous  aggregates :  it  has  something  more.  For  it 
consists  of  units  which  arc  themselves  specially  characterized 
by  instability.    The  constituent  molecules  of  organic  matter 


84  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

are  distinguislied  by  the  feebleness  of  the  affinities  which 
hold  their  component  elements  together.  They  are  extremely 
sensitive  to  heat,  light,  electricity,  and  the  chemical  actions 
of  foreign  elements ;  that  is,  they  are  peculiarly  liable  to 
be  modij&ed  by  disturbing  forces.  Hence  then  it  follows,  a 
jiriori,  that  a  homogeneous  aggregate  of  these  unstable 
molecules  will  have  an  excessive  tendency  to  lose  its 
equilibrium.  It  will  have  a  quite  special  liability  to  lapse 
into  a  non-homogeneous  state.  It  will  rapidly  gravitate 
towards  heretogeneity. 

Moreover,  the  process  must  repeat  itself  in  each  of  the 
subordinate  groups  of  organic  units  which  are  differentiated 
by  the  modifying  forces.  Each  of  these  subordinate  groups, 
like  the  original  group,  must  gradually,  in  obedience  to  the 
influences  acting  on  it,  lose  its  balance  of  parts — must 
pass  from  a  uniform  into  a  multiform  state.  And  so 
on  continuously. 

Thus,  starting  from  the  general  laws  of  things,  and  the 
known  chemical  attributes  of  organic  matter,  we  may 
conclude  deductively  that  the  homogeneous  germs  of 
organisms  have  a  peculiar  proclivity  towards  a  non-homo- 
geneous state;  which  may  be  either  the  state  we  call 
decomposition,  or  the  state  we  call  organization. 

At  present  we  have  reached  a  conclusion  only  of  the 
most  general  nature.  We  merely  learn  that  some  kind  of 
heterogeneity  is  inevitable ;  but  as  yet  there  is  nothing  to 
tell  us  ichat  kind.  Besides  that  orderly  heterogeneity 
which  distinguishes  organisms,  there  is  the  disorderly  op 
chaotic  heterogeneity,  into  which  a  loose  mass  of  inorganic 
matter  lapses;  and  at  present  no  reason  has  been  given 
why  the  homogeneous  germ  of  a  plant  or  animal  should  not 
lapse  into  the  disorderly  instead  of  the  orderly  hetero- 
geneity. But  by  pursuing  still  further  the  line  of  argument 
hitherto  followed  we  shall  find  a  reason. 

We    have    seen    that    the    instability   of  homogeneous 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  85 

aggregates  in  general,  and  of  organic  ones  in  particular,  is 
consequent  on  the  various  ways  aad  degrees  in  which  their 
constituent  parts  are  exposed  to  the  disturbing  forces 
brought  to  bear  on  them  :  their  parts  are  differently  acted 
upon,  and  therefore  become  different.  Manifestly,  then,  a 
rationale  of  the  special  changes  which  a  germ  undergoes, 
must  be  sought  in  the  particular  relations  which  its  several 
parts  bear  to  each  other  and  to  their  environment.  How- 
ever it  may  be  masked,  we  may  suspect  the  fundamental 
principle  of  organization  to  be,  that  the  many  like  units 
forming  a  germ  acquire  those  kinds  and  degrees  of 
anlikeness  which  their  respective  positions  entail. 

Take  a  mass  of  unorganized  but  organizable  matter- 
either  the  body  of  one  of  the  lowest  living  forms,  or  the 
germ  of  one  of  the  higher.  Consider  its  circumstances.  It 
is  immersed  in  water  or  air  ;  or  it  is  contained  within  a 
parent  organism.  Wherever  placed,  however,  its  outer 
and  inner  parts  stand  differently  related  to  surrounding 
existences — nutriment,  oxygen,  and  the  various  stimuli. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Whether  it  lies  quiescent  at  the  bottom 
of  the  water,  whether  it  moves  through  the  water  preserving 
some  definite  attitude,  or  whether  it  is  in  the  inside  of  an 
adult ;  it  equally  results  that  certain  parts  of  its  surface 
are  more  directly  exposed  to  surrounding  agencies  than 
other  parts — in  some  cases  more  exposed  to  light,  heat,  or 
oxygen,  and  in  others  to  the  maternal  tissues  and  their 
contents.  The  destruction  of  its  original  equilibrium  is 
therefore  certain.  It  may  take  place  in  one  of  two  ways. 
Either  the  disturbing  forces  may  bo  such  as  to  overbalance 
the  affinities  of  the  organic  elements,  ia  which  case  thero 
results  that  chaotic  heterogeneity  known  as  decomposition; 
or,  as  is  ordinarily  the  case,  such  changes  are  induced  as 
do  not  destroy  the  organic  compounds,  but  only  modify 
tliem :  the  parts  most  exposed  to  the  modifying  forces 
l)eing  most  modified.  Hence  result  those  first  differentiations 
which   constitute   incipient  organization.     From  the  point 


86  TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

of  view  thus  reached,  suppose  we  look  at  a  few  cases  : 
neglecting  for  tlie  present  all  consideration  of  the  tendency 
to  assume  the  inherited  type. 

Note  first  what  appear  to  be  exceptions,  as  the  Amoeha, 
In  this  creature  and  its  allies,  the  substance  of  the  jelly- 
like body  remains  throughout  life  unorganized — undergoes 
no  permanent  differentiations.  But  this  fact,  which  seems 
directly  opposed  to  our  inference,  is  really  one  of  the  most 
significant  evidences  of  its  truth.  For  what  is  the  peculiarity 
of  the  Rhizopods,  exemplified  by  the  Amoeba  ?  They  undergo 
perpetual  and  irregular  changes  of  shape — they  show  no 
persistent  relations  of  parts.  What  lately  formed  a  portion 
of  the  interior  is  now  protruded,  and,  as  a  temporary  limb, 
is  attached  to  some  object  it  happens  to  touch.  What  is 
now  a  part  of  the  surface  will  presently  be  drawn,  along 
with  the  atom  of  nutriment  sticking  to  it,  into  the  centre 
of  the  mass.  Thus  there  is  an  unceasing  interchange  of 
places ;  and  the  relations  of  inner  and  outer  have  no 
settled  existence.  But  by  the  hypothesis,  it  is  only  in 
virtue  of  their  unlike  positions  with  respect  to  modifying 
forces,  that  the  originally-like  units  of  a  living  mass  become 
unlike.  We  must  not  therefore  expect  any  established 
differentiation  of  parts  in  creatures  which  exhibit  no 
established  differences  of  position  in  their  parts. 

This  negative  evidence  is  borne  out  by  abundant  positive 
evidence.  When  we  turn  from  these  ever-changing  specks 
of  living  jelly  to  organisms  having  unchanging  distributions 
of  substance,  we  find  differences  of  tissue  corresponding 
to  differences  of  relative  position.  In  all  the  higher 
Protozoa,  as  also  in  the  Protophyta,  we  meet  with  a  funda- 
mental differentiation  into  cell-membrane  and  cell-contents, 
answering  to  that  fundamental  contrast  of  conditions 
implied  by  the  words  outside  and  inside.  And  on  passing 
from  what  are  roughly  classed  as  unicellular  organisms  to 
the  lowest  of  those  which  consist  of  aggregated  cells,  we 
equally  observe  the  connexion  between  structural  differencea 


TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOQT.  87 

and  differences  of  circumstance.  In  tlie  sponge,  permeated 
throughout  by  currents  of  sea-water,  the  absence  of  definite 
organization  corresponds  with  the  absence  of  definite 
unlikeness  of  conditions.  In  the  Thalas-ncolla  of  Professor 
Huxley — a  transparent,  colourless  body,  found  floating 
passively  at  the  surface  of  the  sea,  and  consisting  essentially 
of  "  a  mass  of  cells  united  by  jelly " — there  is  displayed 
a  rude  structure  obviously  subordinated  to  the  primary 
relations  of  centre  and  surface  :  in  all  of  its  many  and 
important  varieties,  the  parts  exhibit  a  more  or  less  concen- 
tric arrangement. 

After  this  primary  modification,  by  which  the  outer 
tissues  are  differentiated  from  the  inner,  the  next  in  order 
of  constancy  and  importance  is  that  by  which  some  part  of 
the  outer  tissues  is  diff'erentiated  from  the  rest;  and  this 
corresponds  with  the  almost  universal  fact  that  some  part 
of  the  outer  tissues  is  more  directly  exposed  to  certain 
environing  influences  than  the  rest.  Here,  as  before,  the 
apparent  exceptions  are  extremely  significant.  Some  of 
the  lowest  vegetable  organisms,  as  the  Hematococci  and 
Frotococci,  evenly  imbedded  in  a  mass  of  mu^cus,  or  dis- 
persed through  the  Arctic  snow,  display  no  differentiations 
of  surface :  the  several  parts  of  the  surface  being  subjected 
to  no  definite  contrasts  of  conditions.  The  Thalassicolla 
above  mentioned,  unfixed,  and  rolled  about  by  the  waves, 
presents  all  its  sides  successively  to  the  same  agencies;  and 
all  its  sides  are  alike.  A  ciliated  sphere  like  the  Volvox 
has  no  parts  of  its  periphery  unlike  other  parts ;  and  it  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  it  should  have;  seeing  that  as  it 
revolves  in  all  directions,  it  does  not,  in  traversing  the 
water,  permanently  expose  any  part  to  special  conditions. 
But  when  we  come  to  creatures  that  are  either  fixed,  or 
while  moving,  severally  preserve  a  definite  attitude,  we  no 
longer  find  uniformity  of  surface.  The  gemmule  of  a 
Zoophyte,  which  during  its  locomotive  stage  is  distmguish- 
ablo  only  into  outer  and  inner  tissues,  no  sooner  takes  root 
7 


88  TEANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

tlian  its  upper  end  begins  to  assume  a  different  structure 
from  its  lower.  The  free-swimming  embryo  of  an  aquatic 
annelid,  being  ovate  and  not  ciliated  all  over,  moves  with 
one  end  foremost;  and  its  differentiations  proceed  in 
conformity  with  this  contrast  of  circumstances. 

The  principle  thus  displayed  in  the  humbler  forms  of  life, 
is  traceable  during  the  development  of  the  higher ;  though 
being  here  soon  masked  by  the  assumption  of  the  hereditary 
type,  it  cannot  be  traced  far.  Thus  the  "  mulberry-mass  " 
into  which  a  fertilized  ovum  of  a  vertebrate  animal  first 
resolves  itself,  soon  begins  to  exhibit  a  difference  between 
the  outer  and  inner  parts  answering  to  the  difference  of 
circumstances.  The  peripheral  cells,  after  reaching  a  more 
complete  development  than  the  central  ones,  coalesce  into 
a  membrane  enclosing  the  rest ;  and  then  the  cells  lying 
next  to  these  outer  ones  become  aggregated  with  them,  and 
increase  the  thickness  of  the  germinal  membrane,  while  the 
central  cells  liquefy.  Again,  one  part  of  the  germinal 
membrane  presently  becomes  distinguishable  as  the 
germinal  spot;  and  without  asserting  that  the  cause  of 
this  'is  to  be  found  in  the  unlike  relations  which  tho 
respective  parts  of  the  germinal  membrane  bear  to  envi- 
roning influences,  it  is  clear  that  we  have  in  these  unlike 
relations  an  element  of  disturbance  tending  to  destroy  tho 
original  homogeneity  of  the  germinal  membrane.  Further, 
the  germinal  membrane  by  and  by  divides  into  two  layers, 
internal  and  external ;  the  one  in  contact  with  the  liquefied 
interior  part  or  yelk,  the  other  exposed  to  the  surrounding 
fluids :  this  contrast  of  circumstances  being  in  obvious 
correspondence  with  the  contrast  of  structures  which 
follows  it.  Once  more,  the  subsequent  appearance  of  the 
vascular  layer  between  these  mucous  and  serous  layers,  as 
they  have  been  named,  admits  of  a  like  interpretation. 
And  in  this  and  the  various  complications  which  now  begin 
to  show  themselves,  we  may  see  coming  into  play  that 
general  law  of  the  multiplication  of  effects  flowing  from  one 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  89- 

cause,  to  wliicli  tlie  increase  of  heterogeneity  was  else- 
where ascribed.* 

Confining  our  remarks,  as  we  do,  to  tlie  most  general  facts 
of  development,  we  tliink  that  some  light  is  thus  thrown  on 
them.  That  the  unstable  equilibrium  of  a  homogeneous 
germ  must  be  destroyed  by  the  unlike  exposure  of  its  several 
units  to  surrounding  influences,  is  an  a  priori  conclusion. 
And  it  seems  also  to  be  an  a  priori  conclusion,  that  the 
several  units  thus  differently  acted  upon,  must  either  be 
decomposed,  or  must  undergo  such  modifications  of  nature 
as  may  enable  them  to  live  in  the  respective  circumstances 
they  are  thrown  into  :  in  other  words — they  must  either  die 
or  become  adapted  to  their  conditions.  Indeed,  we  might 
infer  as  much  without  going  through  the  foregoing  train  of 
reasoning.  The  superficial  organic  units  (be  they  the  outer 
cells  of  a  "  mulberry-mass,"  or  be  they  the  outer  molecules 
of  an  individual  cell)  must  assume  the  function  which  their 
position  necessitates ;  and  assuming  this  function,  must 
acquire  such  character  as  performance  of  it  involves.  Tho 
layer  of  organic  units  lying  in  contact  with  the  yelk  must 
be  those  through  which  the  yelk  is  absorbed ;  and  so  must 
be  adapted  to  the  absorbent  oflice.  On  this  condition  only 
does  the  process  of  organization  appear  possible.  We 
might  almost  say  that  just  as  some  race  of  animals,  which 
multiplies  and  spreads  into  divers  regions  of  the  earth, 
becomes  differentiated  into  several  races  through  the 
adaptation  of  each  to  its  conditions  of  life;  so,  the  originally 
homogeneous  population  of  cells  arising  in  a  fertilized 
germ-cell,  becomes  divided  into  several  populations  of 
cells  that  grow  unlike  in  virtue  of  the  uulikeness  of 
their  circumstances. 

Moreover,  it  is  to  be  remarked  in  further  proof  of  our 
position,  that  it  finds  its  clearest  and  most  abundant 
illustrations  where  the  conditions  of  the  case  are  the  simplest 

•  See  Essay  on  •'  Progress :  its  Law  and  Cause." 


§0  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

and  most  general — wliere  tlie  plienomena  are  the  least 
involved :  we  mean  in  tlie  production  of  individual  cells. 
The  structures  Avhich  presently  arise  round  nuclei  in  a 
blastema,  and  which  have  in  some  way  been  determined  by 
those  nuclei  as  centres  of  influence,  evidently  conform  to 
the  law;  for  the  parts  of  the  blastema  in  contact  with  the 
nuclei  are  differently  conditioned  from  the  parts  not  in 
contact  with  them.  Again,  the  formation  of  a  membrane 
round  each  of  the  masses  of  granules  into  which  the 
endochrome  of  an  alga-cell  breaks  up,  is  an  instance  of 
analogous  kind.  And  should  the  recently-asserted  fact 
that  cells  may  arise  round  vacuoles  in  a  mass  of  organizable 
substance,  be  confirmed,  another  good  example  will  be 
furnished;  for  such  portions  of  substance  as  bound  these 
vacant  spaces  are  subject  to  influences  unlike  those  to  which 
other  portions  of  the  substance  are  subject.  If  then  we 
can  most  clearly  trace  this  law  of  modification  in  these 
primordial  processes,  as  well  as  in  those  more  complex  but 
analogous  ones  exhibited  in  the  early  changes  of  an 
ovum,  we  have  strong  reason  for  thinking  that  the  law 
is  fundamental. 

But,  as  already  more  than  once  hinted,  this  principle, 
understood  in  the  simple  form  here  presented,  supplies  no 
key  to  the  detailed  phenomena  of  organic  development.  It 
fails  entirely  to  explain  generic  and  specific  peculiarities ; 
and  leaves  us  equally  in  the  dark  respecting  those  more 
important  distinctions  by  which  families  and  orders  are 
marked  out.  Why  two  ova,  similarly  exposed  in  the  same 
pool,  should  become  the  one  a  fish,  and  the  other  a  reptile, 
it  cannot  tell  us.  That  from  two  different  eggs  placed 
under  the  same  hen,  should  respectively  come  forth  a 
duckling  and  a  chicken,  is  a  fact  not  to  be  accounted 
for  on  the  hypothesis  above  developed.  Here  we  are 
obliged  to  fall  back  upon  the  unexplained  principle 
of  hereditary  transmission.  The  capacity  possessed  by  an 
unorganized  germ  of  unfolding  into  a  complex  adult  which 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  91 

repeats  ancestral  traits  in  minute  details,  and  tliat  even 
when  it  has  been  phiced  in  conditions  unlike  those  of  its 
ancestors,  is  a  capacity  impossible  for  us  to  understand. 
That  a  microscopic  portion  of  seemingly  structureless  matter 
should  embody  an  influence  of  such  kind,  that  the  resulting* 
man  will  in  fifty  years  after  become  gouty  or  insane,  is  a 
truth  which  would  be  incredible  were  it  not  daily  illustrated. 
But  though  the  manner  in  which  hereditary  likeness,  in  all 
its  complications,  is  conveyed,  is  a  mystery  passing  com- 
prehension, it  is  quite  conceivable  that  it  is  conveyed  in 
subordination  to  the  law  of  adaptation  above  explained; 
and  we  are  not  without  reasons  for  thinking  that  it  is  so. 
Various  facts  show  that  acquired  peculiarities  resulting 
irom  the  adaptation  of  constitution  to  conditions,  are  trans- 
missible to  offspring.  Such  acquired  peculiarities  consist 
of  differences  of  structure  or  composition  in  one  or  more  of 
tlie  tissues.  That  is  to  say,  of  the  aggregate  of  similar 
organic  units  composing  a  germ,  the  group  going  to  the 
formation  of  a  particular  tissue,  will  take  on  the  special 
character  which  the  adaptation  of  that  tissue  to  new  cir- 
cumstances had  produced  in  the  parents.  We  know  this 
to  be  a  general  law  of  organic  modifications.  Further,  it 
is  the  only  law  of  organic  modifications  of  which  Ave  have 
any  evidence.*  It  is  not  impossible  then  that  it  is  the 
unive'-sal  law;  comprehending  not  simply  those  minor 
modifications  which  offspring  inherit  from  recent  ancestry, 
but  comprehending  also  those  larger  modifications  dis- 
tinctive of  species,  genus,  order,  class,  which  they  inherit 
irom  antecedent  races  of  organisms.  And  thus  it  Diai/  ha 
that  the  law  of  adaptation  is  the  sole  law;  presiding  not 
only  over  the  differentiation  of  any  race  of  organisms  into 
several  races,  but  also  over  the  differentiation  of  the  race 
of  organic  units  composing  a  germ,  into  the  many  races  of 
organic    units    composing    an    adult.     So    understood,  the 

•  This  was  written  before  the  publication  of  the  Origin  of  Species.    I 
leave  it  standini'  because  it  shows  the  sta''e  of  thought  theu  arrived  at. 


92  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

process  gone  through  by  every  unfolding  organism  will 
consist,  partly  in  the  direct  adaptation  of  its  elements  to 
their  several  circumstances,  and  partly  in  the  assumption 
of  characters  resulting  from  analogous  adaptations  of  the 
elements  of  all  ancestral  organisms. 

But  our  argument  does  not  commit  us  to  any  such  far- 
reaching  speculation  as  this ;  which  we  introduce  simply 
as  suggested  by  it,  not  involved.  All  we  are  here  con- 
cerned to  show,  is,  that  the  deductive  method  aids  us  in 
interpreting  some  of  the  more  general  phenomena  of  de- 
velopment. That  all  homogeneous  aggregates  are  in 
unstable  equilibrium  is  a  universal  truth,  from  which  is 
dedacible  the  instability  of  every  organic  germ.  From  the 
known  sensitiveness  of  organic  compounds  to  chemical, 
thermal,  and  other  disturbing  forces,  we  further  infer  the 
unusual  instability  of  every  organic  germ — a  proneness  far 
beyond  that  of  other  homogeneous  aggregates  to  lapse  into 
a  heterogeneous  state.  By  the  same  line  of  reasoning  we 
are  led  to  the  additional  inference,  that  the  first  divisions 
into  which  a  germ  resolves  itself,  being  severally  in  a  state 
of  unstable  equilibrium,  are  similarly  prone  to  undergo 
further  changes ;  and  so  on  continuously.  Moreover,  we 
have  found  it  to  be  equally  an  a  priori  conclusion,  that  as, 
in  all  other  cases,  the  loss  of  homogeneity  is  due  to  the 
different  degrees  and  kinds  of  force  brought  to  bear  on 
the  different  parts;  so,  in  this  case  too,  difference  of  cir- 
cumstances is  the  primary  cause  of  differentiation.  Add 
to  which,  that  as  the  several  changes  undergone  by  the 
respective  parts  thus  diversely  acted  upon,  are  changes 
which  do  not  destroy  their  vital  activity,  they  must  be 
changes  which  bring  that  vital  activity  into  subordination 
to  the  incident  forces — they  must  be  adaptations  j  and  the 
like  must  be  in  some  sense  true  of  all  the  subsequent 
changes.  Thus  by  deductive  reasoning  we  get  soma 
insisrht  into  the  method  of  orgfanization.  However  unable 
we  are,  and  probably  ever  shall  be,  to  comprehend  the 


TRANSCENDENTAL    rHYSIOLOGY.  93 

way  in  wliicli  a  germ  is  made  to  take  on  the  special  form 
of  its  race,  we  may  yet  comprehend  the  general  principles 
which  regulate  its  hrst  modifications;  and,  remembering 
the  unity  of  plan  so  conspicuous  throughout  nature,  we 
may  suspect  that  these  principles  are  in  some  way  concerned 
in  succeeding  modifications. 

A  controversy  now  going  on  among  zoologists,  opens  yet. 
another  field  for  the  application  of  the  deductive  method. 
We  believe  that  the  question  whether  there  does  or  does 
not  exist  a  necessary  correlation  among  the  several  parts  of 
an  organism  is  determinable  a  priori. 

Cuvier,  who  first  asserted  this  necessary  correlation, 
professed  to  base  his  restorations  of  extinct  animals  upon 
it.  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire  and  De  Blainville,  from  different 
points  of  view,  contested  Cuvier's  hypothesis ;  and  the 
discussion,  which  has  much  interest  as  bearing  on  paleon- 
tology, has  been  recently  revived  under  a  somewhat 
modified  form  :  Professors  Huxley  and  Owen  being  re- 
Bpectively  the  assailant  and  defender  of  the  hypothesis. 

Cuvier  says — "Comparative  anatomy  possesses  a  principle 
whose  just  development  is  suiBRcient  to  dissipate  all 
difficulties;  it  is  that  of  the  correlation  of  forms  in 
organized  beings,  by  means  of  which  every  kind  of 
organized  being  might,  strictly  speaking,  be  recognized  by 
a  fragment  of  any  of  its  parts.  Every  organized  being 
constitutes  a  whole,  a  single  and  complete  system,  whose 
parts  mutually  correspond  and  concur  by  their  reciprocal 
reaction  to  the  same  definite  end.  None  of  these  parts  can 
be  changed  without  affecting  the  others  ;  and  consequently 
each  taken  separately,  indicates  and  gives  all  the  rest.*' 
He  then  gives  illustrations  :  arguing  that  the  carnivoi'ous 
form  of  tooth  necessitating  a  certain  action  of  the  jaw, 
implies  a  particular  form  in  its  condyles  ;  implies  also 
limbs  fit  for  seizing  and  holding  prey;  therefore  implies 
claws,  a  certain  structure  of  the  leg-bones,  a  certain  form 


94  TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

of  shoulder-blade.  Summing  up  lie  says,  that  "tlie  claw, 
the  scapula,  the  condyle,  the  femur,  and  all  the  other 
bones,  taken  separately,  will  give  the  tooth  or  one  another; 
and  by  commencing  with  any  one,  he  who  had  a  rational 
conception  of  the  laws  of  the  organic  economy,  could 
reconstruct  the  whole  animal." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  method  of  restoration  here  con- 
tended for,  is  based  on  the  alleged  physiological  necessity 
of  the  connexion  between  these  several  peculiarities.  The 
argument  used  is,  not  that  a  scapula  of  a  certain  shape 
may  be  recognized  as  having  belonged  to  a  carnivorous 
mammal  because  we  always  find  that  carnivorous  mammals 
do  possess  such  scapulas  ;  but  the  argument  is  that  they 
must  possess  them,  because  carnivorous  habits  would  be 
impossible  without  them.  And  in  the  above  quotation 
Cuvier  asserts  that  the  necessary  correlation  which  he 
considers  so  obvious  in  these  cases,  exists  throughout  the 
system :  admitting,  however,  that  in  consequence  of  our 
limited  knowledge  of  physiology  Ave  are  unable  in  many 
cases  to  trace  this  necessary  correlation,  and  are  obb'ged  to 
base  our  conclusions  upon  observe  dcoexistences,  of  which  Ave 
do  not  understand  the  reason,  but  AA'^hich  we  find  iuA'ariable. 

Now  Professor  Huxley  has  recently  shoAvn  that,  in  the 
first  place,  this  empirical  method,  Avhich  Cuvier  introduces 
as  quite  subordinate,  and  to  be  used  only  in  aid  of  the 
rational  method,  is  really  the  method  Avhich  CuA^'er 
habitually  employed — the  so-called  rational  method  re- 
maining practically  a  dead  letter;  and,  in  the  second 
place,  he  has  shown  that  Cuvier  himself  lias  in  sevei-al 
places  so  far  admitted  the  inapplicability  of  the  rational 
method,  as  virtually  to  surrender  it  as  a  method.  But 
more  than  this.  Professor  Huxley  contends  that  the  alleged 
necessary  correlation  is  not  true.  Quite  admitting  the 
physiological  dependence  of  parts  on  each  other,  he  denies 
that  it  is  a  dependence  of  a  kind  Avhich  could  not  be  other- 
wise.    "  Thus  the  teeth  of  a  lion  and  the  stomach  of  the 


TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY.  95 

animal  are  in  such  relation  that  the  one  is  fitted  to  digest 
the  food  which  the  other  can  tear,  they  are  physio- 
logically correlated ;  but  we  have  no  reason  for  affirming 
this  to  be  a  necessary  physiological  correlation,  in  the 
sense  that  no  other  could  equally  fit  its  possessor  for  living 
on  recent  flesh.  The  number  and  form  of  the  teeth  might 
have  been  quite  different  from  that  which  we  know  them 
to  be,  and  the  construction  of  the  stomach  might  have 
been  greatly  altered ;  and  yet  the  functions  of  these  organs 
might  have  been  equally  well  performed." 

Thus  much  is  needful  to  give  an  idea  of  the  controversy. 
It  is  not  here  our  pui'pose  to  go  more  at  length  into  the 
evidence  cited  on  either  side.  We  simply  wish  to  show 
that  the  question  may  be  settled  deductively.  Before 
going  on  to  do  this,  however,  let  us  briefly  notice  two 
collateral  points. 

In  his  defence  of  the  Cuvierian  doctrine.  Professor  Owen 
avails  himself  of  the  odium  theolnr/iciim.  He  attributes  to 
his  opponents  '^the  insinuation  and  masked  advocacy  of  the 
doctrine  subversive  of  a  recognition  of  the  Higher  Mind." 
Now,  saying  nothing  about  the  questionable  propriety  of 
thus  prejudging  an  issue  in  science,  we  think  this  is  an 
unfortunate  accusation.  What  is  there  in  the  hypothesis 
of  necessary,  as  distinguished  from  actual,  correlation  of 
parts,  which  is  particularly  in  harmony  with  Theism  ? 
Maintenance  of  the  necessity,  whether  of  sequences  or  of 
coexistences,  is  commonly  thought  rather  a  derogation  trom 
divine  power  than  otherwise.  Cuvier  says — "  None  of  these 
parts  can  be  changed  without  affecting  the  others ;  and 
consequently,  each  taken  separately,  indicates  and  gives  all 
the  rest."  That  is  to  say,  in  the  nature  of  things  the 
correlation  could  not  have  been  otherwise.  On  the  other 
hand.  Professor  Huxley  says  we  have  no  warrant  for 
asserting  that  the  correlatidu  could  not  have  been  otherwise; 
but  have  not  a  little  reason  for  thinking  that  the  same 
physiological   ends  might  have  been  differently  achieved. 


96  TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

The  one  doctrine  limits  the  possibilities  of  creation ;  the 
other  denies  the  implied  limit.  Which,  then,  is  most  open 
to  the  charge  of  covert  Atheism  ? 

On  the  other  point  we  lean  to  the  opinion  of  Professor 
Owen.  We  agree  with  him  in  thinking  that  where  a 
rational  correlation  (in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term)  can 
be  made  ovit,  it  affords  a  better  basis  for  deduction  than 
an  empirical  correlation  ascertained  only  by  accumulated 
observations.  Premising  that  by  rational  correlation  is  not 
meant  one  in  which  we  can  trace,  or  think  we  can  trace,  a 
design,  but  one  of  which  the  negation  is  inconceivable  (and 
this  is  the  species  of  correlation  which  Cuvier's  principle 
implies) ;  then  we  hold  that  our  knowledge  of  the  correlation 
is  of  a  more  certain  kind  than  where  it  is  simply  inductive. 
We  think  that  Professor  Huxley,  in  his  anxiety  to  avoid 
the  error  of  making  Thought  the  measure  of  Things,  does 
not  sufficiently  bear  in  mind  the  fact,  that  as  our  notion  of 
necessity  is  determined  by  some  absolute  uniformity 
pervading  all  orders  of  our  experiences,  it  follows  that  an 
oreranic  correlation  which  cannot  be  conceived  otherwise,  is 
guaranteed  by  a  much  wider  induction  than  one  ascertained 
only  by  the  observation  of  organisms.  But  the  truth  is, 
that  there  are  relatively  few  organic  correlations  of  which 
the  negation  is  inconceivable.  If  we  iind  the  skull, 
vertebrae,  ribs,  and  phalanges  of  some  quadruped  as  large 
as  an  elephant;  we  may  indeed  be  certain  that  the  legs  of 
this  quadruped  were  of  considerable  size — much  larger 
than  those  of  a  rat;  and  our  reason  for  conceiving  this 
correlation  as  necessary,  is,  that  it  is  based,  not  only  upon 
our  experiences  of  moving  organisms,  but  upon  all  our 
mechanical  experiences  relative  to  masses  and  their  supports. 
But  even  were  there  many  physiological  correlations  really 
of  this  order,  which  there  are  not,  there  would  be  danger  in 
pursuing  this  line  of  reasoning,  in  consequence  of  the 
liability  to  include  within  the  class  of  truly  necessary 
correlations,  those  which  are  not  such.     For  instance,  there 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  97 

would  seem  to  be  a  necessary  correlation  between  the  eye 
and  the  surface  of  the  body :  light  being  needful  for  vision, 
it  might  be  supposed  that  every  eye  must  be  external. 
Nevertheless  it  is  a  fact  that  there  are  creatures,  as  the 
Cirrhipoedia,  having  eyes  (not  very  efficient  ones,  it  may 
be)  deeply  imbedded  within  the  body.  Again,  a  necessary 
correlation  might  be  assumed  between  the  dimensions  of  the 
mammalian  uterus  and  those  of  the  pelvis.  It  would  appear 
impossible  that  in  any  species  there  should  exist  a  well- 
developed  uterus  containing  a  full-sized  foetus,  and  yeb 
that  the  arch  of  the  pelvis  should  be  too  small  to  allow 
the  foetus  to  pass.  And  were  the  only  mammal  having  a 
very  small  pelvic  arch,  a  fossil  one,  it  would  have  been 
inferred,  on  the  Cuvierian  method,  that  the  foetus  must 
have  been  born  in  a  rudimentary  state ;  and  that  the  uterus 
must  have  been  proportionally  small.  But  there  happens 
to  be  an  extant  mammal  having  an  undeveloped  pelvis — • 
the  mole — which  presents  us  with  a  fact  that  saves  us  from 
this  erroneous  inference.  The  young  of  the  mole  are  not 
born  through  the  pelvic  arch  at  all ;  but  in  front  of  it  I 
Thus,  granting  that  some  quite  direct  physiological  correla- 
tions may  be  necessary,  we  see  that  there  is  great  risk  of 
including  among  them  some  which  are  not. 

With  regard  to  the  great  mass  of  the  correlations, 
however,  including  all  the  indirect  ones.  Professor  Huxley 
seems  to  us  warranted  in  denying  that  they  are  necessary ; 
and  we  now  propose  to  show  deductively  the  truth  of  his 
thesis.     Let  us  begin  with  an  analogy. 

Whoever  has  been  through  an  extensive  iron-works,  has 
Been  a  gigantic  pair  of  shears  worked  by  machinery,  and 
uced  for  cutting  in  two,  bars  of  iron  that  are  from  time  to 
time  thrust  between  its  blades.  Supposing  these  blades  to 
bo  the  only  visible  parts  of  the  apparatus,  anyone  observing 
their  movements  (or  rather  the  movement  of  one,  for  the 
other  is  commonly  fixed),  will  see  from  the  manner  iu 
which  the  angle   increases  and   decreases,   and  from  tha 


98  TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

curve  described  by  the  moving  extremity,  tbat  there  must 
be  some  centre  of  motion — either  a  pivot  or  an  external 
box  equivalent  to  it.  This  may  be  regarded  as  a  necessary 
correlation.  Moreover,  he  might  infer  that  beyond  the 
centre  of  motion  the  moving  blade  was  produced  into  a 
lever,  to  which  the  power  was  applied ;  but  as  another 
arrangement  is  just  possible,  this  could  not  be  called 
anything  more  than  a  highly  probable  correlation.  If 
now  he  went  a  step  further,  and  asked  how  the  reciprocal 
movement  was  given  to  the  lever,  he  would  perhaps 
conclude  that  it  was  given  by  a  crank.  But  if  he  knew 
anything  of  mechanics,  he  would  know  that  it  might 
possibly  be  given  by  an  eccentric.  Or  again,  he  would 
know  that  the  effect  could  be  achieved  by  a  cam.  That  is 
to  say,  he  would  see  that  there  was  no  necessary  correlation 
between  the  shears  and  the  remoter  parts  of  the  apparatus. 
Take  another  case.  The  plate  of  a  printing-press  is 
required  to  move  up  and  down  to  the  extent  of  an  inch  or 
so ;  and  it  must  exert  its  greatest  pressure  when  it  reaches 
the  extreme  of  its  downward  movement.  If  now  anyone 
will  look  over  the  stock  of  a  printing-press  maker,  he  will 
see  half  a  dozen  different  mechanical  arrangements  by 
which  these  ends  are  achieved ;  and  a  machinist  would  tell 
him  that  as  many  more  might  readily  be  invented.  If, 
then,  there  is  no  necessary  correlation  between  the 
special  parts  of  a  machine,  still  less  is  there  between 
those  of  an  organism. 

From  a  converse  point  of  view  the  same  truth  is  mani- 
fest. Bearing  in  mind  the  above  analogy,  it  will  be 
foreseen  that  an  alteration  in  one  part  of  an  organism  will 
not  necessarily  entail  some  one  specific  set  of  alterations  in 
the  other  parts.  Cuvier  says,  "  None  of  these  parts  can  be 
changed  without  affecting  the  others;  and  consequently, 
each  taken  separately,  indicates  and  gives  all  the  rest." 
The  first  of  these  propositions  may  pass,  but  the  second, 
which  it  is   alleged   follows  from   it,  is  not  true;   for  it 


TRA.NSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOQY.  99 

implies  that  "  all  the  rest "  can  be  severally  affected  in 
only  one  way  and  degree,  whereas  they  can  be  affected  in 
many  ways  and  degrees.  To  show  this,  we  must  again 
have  recourse  to  a  mechanical  analogy. 

If  you  set  a  brick  on  end  and  thrust  it  over,  you  can 
predict  with  certainty  in  what  direction  it  will  fall,  and 
what  attitude  it  will  assume.     If,  again  setting  it  up,  you 
put  another  on  the  top  of  it,  you  can  no  longer  foresee  with 
accuracy  the  results  of  an  overthrow  ;  and  on  repeating  the 
experiment,  no  matter  how  much  care  is  taken  to  place  the 
bricks  in  the  same  positions,  and  to  apply  the  same  degree 
of  force  in  the  same  direction,  the  effects  will  on  no  two 
occasions   be    exactly   alike.     And   in   proportion   as   the 
aggregation  is   complicated   by  the  addition   of  new  and 
unlike  parts,  will  the  results  of  any  disturbance  become 
more  varied  and  incalculable.     The  like  truth  is  curiously 
illustrated  by  locomotive  engines.     It  is  a  fact  familiar  to 
mechanical  engineers   and  engine-drivers,   that  out   of   a 
number  of  engines  built  as  accurately  as  possible  to  the 
same  pattern,  no  two  will   act  in   just  the  same  manner. 
Each  will  have  its  peculiarities.     The  play  of  actions  and 
reactions  will  so  far  differ,  that  under  like  conditions  each 
will  behave  in  a  somewhat  different  way ;  and  every  driver 
has  to  learn  the  idiosyncrasies  of  his  own  engine  before  he 
can  work    it   to    the    greatest    advantage.     In   organisms 
themselves   this   indefiniteness  of   mechanical   reaction    is 
clearly  traceable.     Two  boys  throwing  stones  will  always 
differ  more  or  less  in  their  attitudes,  as  will  two  billiard- 
players.     The    familiar   fact   that    each   individual   has    a 
characteristic  gait,  illustrates  the  point  still  better.     The 
rhythmical  motion  of  the  leg  is  simple,  and  on  the  Cuvieriau 
hypothesis,  should  react  on  the  body  in  some  uniform  way. 
But  in  consequence  of  those  slight  differences  of  structure 
which  consist  with  identity  of  species,  no  two  individuals 
make  exactly  similar  movements  either  of  the  trunk  or  the 


100  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY. 

arms.  There  is  always  a  peculiarity  recognizable  by 
their  friends. 

When  we  pass  to  disturbing"  forces  of  a  non-mechanical 
kind,  the  same  truth  becomes  still  more  conspicuous.  Expose 
several  persons  to  a  drenching  storm ;  and  while  one  will 
subsequently  feel  no  appreciable  inconvenience,  another 
will  have  a  cough,  another  a  catarrh,  another  an  attack  of 
diarrhosa,  another  a  fit  of  rheumatism.  Vaccinate  several 
children  of  the  same  age  with  the  same  quantity  of  virus, 
applied  to  the  same  part,  and  the  symptoms  will  not  be 
quite  alike  in  any  of  them,  either  in  kind  or  intensity;  and 
in  some  cases  the  differences  will  be  extreme.  The  quantity 
of  alcohol  which  will  send  one  man  to  sleep,  will  render 
another  unusually  brilliant — ^will  make  this  maudlin,  and 
that  irritable.  Opium  will  produce  either  drowsiness  or 
wakefulness  :  so  will  tobacco. 

Now  in  all  these  cases — mechanical  and  other — some  force 
is  brought  to  bear  primarily  on  one  part  of  an  organism, 
and  secondarily  on  the  rest ;  and,  according  to  the  doctrino 
of  Cuvier,  the  rest  ought  to  be  affected  in  a  specific  way. 
We  find  this  to  be  by  no  means  the  case.  The  original 
change  produced  in  one  part  does  not  stand  in  any  necessary 
correlation  with  every  one  of  the  changes  produced  in  the 
other  parts  ;  nor  do  these  stand  in  any  necessary  correlation 
with  one  another.  The  functional  altei'ation  which  the 
disturbing  force  causes  in  the  organ  directly  acted  upon, 
does  not  involve  some  particular  set  of  functional  alterations 
in  the  other  organs ;  but  will  be  followed  by  some  one 
out  of  various  sets.  And  it  is  a  manifest  corollary,  that  any 
structural  alteration  which  may  eventually  be  produced  iu 
the  one  organ,  will  not  be  accompanied  by  some  particular 
set  of  structural  alterations  in  the  other  organs.  There  will 
be  no  necessary  correlation  of  forms. 

Thus  Paleontology  must  depend  upon  the  empirical 
method.     A  fossil  species  that  was  obliged  to  change  its 


TEANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY.  101 

food  or  liabits  of  life,  did  not  of  necessity  undergo  tho 
particular  set  of  modifications  exhibited;  but,  under  some 
slight  change  of  predisposing  causes — as  of  season  or 
latitude — might  have  undergone  some  other  set  of 
modifications  :  the  determining  circumstance  being  one 
which,  in  the  human  sense,  we  call  fortuitous. 

May  we  not  say  then,  that  the  deductive  method  elucidates 
this  vexed  question  in  physiology;  while  at  the  same  time 
our  argument  collaterally  exhibits  the  limits  Avithin  which 
the  deductive  method  is  applicable.  For  while  we  see  that 
this  extremely  general  question  may  be  satisfactorily  dealt 
with  deductively;  the  conclusion  arrived  at  itself  implies 
that  the  more  special  phenomena  of  organization  cannot  be 
so  dealt  with. 

There  is  yet  another  method  of  investigating  the  general 
truths  of  physiology — a  method  to  which  physiology  already 
owes  one  luminous  idea,  but  which  is  not  at  present  formally 
recognized  as  a  method.  We  refer  to  the  comparison  of 
physiological  phenomena  with  social  phenomena. 

The  analogy  between  individual  organisms  and  the  social 
organism,  is  one  that  has  from  early  days  occasionally 
forced  itself  on  the  attention  of  the  observant.  And  though 
modern  science  does  not  countenance  those  crude  ideas  of 
this  analogy  which  have  been  from  time  to  time  expressed 
since  the  Greeks  flourished;  yet  it  tends  to  show  that  there 
is  an  analogy,  and  a  remarkable  one.  While  it  is  becoming 
clear  that  there  are  not  those  special  parallelisms  between 
the  constituent  parts  of  a  man  and  those  of  a  nation,  which 
have  been  thought  to  exist;  it  is  also  becoming  clear  that 
ithe  general  principles  of  development  and  structure  dis- 
played in  organized  bodies  are  displayed  in  societies  also. 
The  fundamental  characteristic  both  of  societies  and  of 
living  creatures,  is,  that  they  consist  of  mutually-dependent 
parts;  and  it  would  seem  that  this  involves  a  community  of 
Various  other   characteristics.     Those  who  are  acquainted 


102  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOQT. 

with  the  broad  facts  of  both  physiology  and  sociology,  are 
beginning  to  recognize  this  correspondence  not  as  a  plausible 
fancy,  but  as  a  scientific  truth.  And  wo  are  strongly  of 
opinion  that  it  will  by  and  by  be  seen  to  hold  to  an  extent 
which  few  at  present  suspect. 

Meanwhile,  if  any  such  correspondence  exists,  it  is  clear 
that  physiology  and  sociology  will  more  or  less  interpret 
each  other.  Each  affords  its  special  facilities  for  inquiry. 
Relations  of  cause  and  effect  clearly  traceable  in  the  social 
organism,  may  lead  to  the  search  for  analogous  ones  in  the 
individual  organism ;  and  may  so  elucidate  what  might  else 
be  inexplicable.  Laws  of  growth  and  function  disclosed 
by  the  pure  physiologist,  may  occasionally  give  us  the  clue 
to  certain  social  modifications  otherwise  difficult  to  under- 
stand. If  they  can  do  no  more,  the  two  sciences  can  afc 
least  exchange  suggestions  and  confirmations  ;  and  this 
will  be  no  small  aid.  The  conception  of  "  the  physiological 
division  of  labour,"  which  political  economy  has  already 
supplied  to  physiology,  is  one  of  no  small  value.  And 
probably  it  has  others  to  give. 

In  support  of  this  opinion,  we  will  now  cite  cases  in 
which  such  aid  is  furnished.  And  in  the  first  place,  let  us 
see  whether  the  facts  of  social  organization  do  not  afford 
additional  support  to  some  of  the  doctrines  set  forth  in  the 
foregoing  parts  of  this  article. 

One  of  the  propositions  supported  by  evidence  was  that 
in  animals  the  process  of  development  is  carried  on,  not  by 
differentiations  only,  but  by  subordinate  integrations.  Now 
in  the  social  organism  we  may  see  the  same  duality  of 
process;  and  further,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  integrations 
are  of  the  same  three  kinds.  Thus  we  have  integrations 
which  arise  from  the  simple  growth  of  adjacent  parts  that 
perform  like  functions  :  as,  for  instance,  the  coalescence  of 
Manchester  with  its  calico-weaving  suburbs.  We  have 
other  integrations  which  arise  when,  out  of  several  places 
producing  a  particular  commodity,  one  monopolizes  more 


TRANSCENDENTAL   PHYSIOLOGY.  103 

and  more  of  the  business,  and  leaves  the  rest  to  dwindle : 
witness  the  growth  of  the  Yorkshire  cloth-districts  at  the 
expense  of  those  in  the  west  of  England ;  or  the  absorption 
by  Staffordshire  of  the  pottery-manufacture,  and  the 
consequent  decay  of  the  establishments  that  once  flourished 
at  Worcester,  Derby,  and  elsewhere.  And  we  have  those 
yet  otlier  integrations  which  result  from  the  actual  approxi- 
mation of  the  similarly-occupied  parts  :  whence  result  such 
facts  as  the  concentration  of  publishers  in  Paternoster 
Row,  of  lawyers  in  the  Temple  and  neighbourhood,  of 
corn-merchants  about  Mark  Lane,  of  civil  engineers  in 
Great  George  Street,  of  bankers  in  the  centre  of  the  city. 
Finding  thus  that  in  the  evolution  of  the  social  organism, 
as  in  the  evolution  of  individual  organisms,  there  are 
integrations  as  well  as  differentiations,  and  moreover  that 
these  integrations  are  of  the  same  three  orders ;  we  have 
additional  reason  for  considering  these  integrations  as 
essential  parts  of  the  developmental  process,  needed  to  be 
included  in  its  formula.  And  further,  the  circumstance 
that  in  the  social  organism  these  integrations  are  deter- 
mined by  community  of  function,  confirms  the  hypothesis 
that  they  are  thus  determined  in  the  individual  organism. 

Again,  we  endeavoured  to  show  deductively,  that  the 
contrasts  of  parts  first  seen  in  all  unfolding  embryos,  are 
consequent  upon  the  contrasted  circumstances  to  which 
such  parts  are  exposed ;  that  thus,  adaptation  of  consti- 
tution to  conditions  is  the  principle  which  determines  their 
primary  changes ;  and  that,  possibly,  if  wo  include  under 
the  formula  hereditarily-transmitted  adaptations,  all  sub- 
sequent differentiations  may  be  similarly  determined. 
Well,  we  need  not  long  contemplate  the  facts  to  see 
that  some  of  the  predominant  social  differentiations  are 
brought  about  in  an  analogous  way.  As  the  members  of  an 
originally-homogeneous  community  multiply  and  spread, 
the  gradual  separation  into  sections  which  simultaneously 
takes  place,  manifestly  depends  on  differences  of  local 
8 


104  TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

circumstances.  Those  wlio  happen  to  live  near  some  place 
chosen,  perhaps  for  its  centrality,  as  one  of  periodical 
assemblage,  become  traders,  and  a  town  springs  up ;  those 
who  live  dispersed,  continue  to  hunt  or  cultivate  the  earth  ; 
those  who  spread  to  the  sea-shore  fall  into  maritime  occu- 
pations. And  each  of  these  classes  undergoes  modifications 
of  character  fitting  to  its  function.  Later  in  the  process  of 
social  evolution  these  local  adaptations  are  greatly  multi- 
plied. In  virtue  of  differences  of  soil  and  climate,  the  rural 
inhabitants  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  have  their 
occupations  partially  specialized;  and  are  respectively 
distinguished  as  chiefly  producing  cattle,  or  sheep,  or 
wheat,  or  oats,  or  hops,  or  cider.  People  living  where 
coal-fields  are  discovered  become  colliers ;  Cornishmen 
take  to  mining  because  Cornwall  is  metalliferous ;  and 
the  iron-manufacture  is  the  dominant  industry  where 
ironstone  is  plentiful.  Liverpool  has  assumed  the  office  of 
importing  cotton,  in  consequence  of  its  proximity  to  the 
district  where  cotton  goods  are  made ;  and  for  analogous 
reasons  Hull  has  become  the  chief  port  at  which  foreign 
wools  are  brought  in.  Even  in  the  establishment  of 
breweries,  of  dye-works,  of  slate-quarries,  of  brick-yards, 
we  may  see  the  same  truth.  So  that,  both  in  general  and 
in  detail,  these  industrial  specializations  of  the  social 
organism  which  characterize  separate  districts,  primarily 
depend  on  local  circumstances.  Of  the  originally-similar 
units  making  up  the  social  mass,  different  groups  assume 
the  different  functions  which  their  respective  positions 
entail;  and  become  adapted  to  their  conditions.  Thus, 
that  which  we  concluded,  a  priori,  to  be  the  leading  cause 
of  organic  differentiations,  we  find,  a  posteriori,  to  be  the 
leading  cause  of  social  differentiations.  Nay  further,  as 
we  inferred  that  possibly  the  embryonic  changes  which  are 
not  thus  directly  caused,  are  caused  by  hereditarily-trans- 
mitted adaptations;  so,  we  may  actually  see  that  in 
embryonic  societies,  such  changes  as  are  not  due  to  direct 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  105 

adaptations,  are  in  tlie  main  traceable  to  adaptations 
originally  undergone  by  the  parent  society.  The  colonies 
founded  by  distinct  nations,  while  they  are  alike  in  ex- 
hibiting specializations  caused  in  the  way  above  described, 
grow  unlike  in  so  far  as  they  take  on,  more  or  less,  the 
organizations  of  the  nations  they  sprung  from.  A  French 
Bettlement  does  not  develop  exactly  after  the  same  manner 
as  an  English  one ;  and  both  assume  forms  different  from 
those  which  Roman  settlements  assumed.  Now  the  fact  that 
the  differentiation  of  societiesis  determined  partly  by  the  direct 
adaptation  of  their  units  to  local  conditions,  and  partly  by 
the  transmitted  influence  of  like  adaptations  undergone  by 
ancestral  societies,  tends  strongly  to  enforce  the  conclusion, 
otherwise  reached,  that  the  differentiation  of  individual 
organisms,  similarly  results  from  immediate  adaptations 
compounded  with  ancestral  adaptations. 

From  confirmations  thus  furnished  by  sociology  to  phy- 
siology, let  us  now  pass  to  a  suggestion  similarly  furnished. 
A  factory,  or  other  producing  establishment,  or  a  town 
made  up  of  such  establishments,  is  an  agency  for  elaborating 
some  commodity  consumed  by  society  at  large;  and  may 
be  regarded  as  analogous  to  a  gland  or  viscus  in  an  indi- 
vidual organism.  If  we  inquire  what  is  the  primitive  mode 
in  which  one  of  these  producing  establishments  grows  up, 
we  find  it  to  be  this.  A  single  worker,  who  himself  sells 
the  produce  of  his  labour,  is  the  germ.  His  business 
increasing,  he  employs  helpers — his  sons  or  others;  and 
having  done  this,  he  becomes  a  vendor  not  only  of  his  own 
l)andiwork,  but  of  that  of  others.  A  further  increase  of 
his  business  compels  him  to  multiply  his  assistants,  and  his 
sale  grows  so  rapid  that  he  is  obliged  to  confine  himself  to 
the  process  of  selling :  he  ceases  to  be  a  producer,  and 
becomes  simply  a  channel  through  which  the  produce  of 
others  is  conveyed  to  the  public.  Should  his  prosperity 
rise  yet  higher,  he  finds  that  he  is  unable  to  manage  even 
the  sale  of  his  commodities,  and  has  to  employ  others,  pro- 


106  TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY. 

bably  of  his  own  farail}'-,  to  aid  liim  in  selling;  so  that,  to 
iiim  as  a  main  cliannel  are  now  added  subordinate  channels. 
Moreover^  when  there  <iTow  up  in  one  place,  as  a  Manchester 
or  a  Birmingham,  many  establishments  of  like  kind,  this 
process  is  carried  still  further.  There  arise  factors  and 
buyers,  who  are  the  channels  through  Avhich  is  transmitted 
the  produce  of  many  factories ;  and  we  believe  that  pri- 
marily these  factors  were  manufacturers  who  undertook  to 
dispose  of  the  produce  of  smaller  houses  as  well  as  their 
own,  and  ultimately  became  salesmen  only.  Under  a  con- 
verse aspect,  all  the  stages  of  this  development  have  been 
within  these  few  years  exemplified  in  our  railway  con- 
tractors. There  are  sundry  men  now  living  who  illustrate 
the  whole  process  in  their  own  persons — men  who  were 
originally  navvies,  digging  and  wheeling;  who  then  under- 
took some  small  sub-contract,  and  worked  along  with  those 
they  paid ;  who  presently  took  larger  contracts,  and  em- 
ployed foremen;  and  who  now  contract  for  whole  railways, 
and  let  portions  to  sub-contractors.  That  is  to  say,  we 
have  men  who  were  originally  workers,  but  have  finally 
become  the  main  channels  out  of  which  diverge  secondary 
channels,  which  again  bifurcate  into  the  subordinate  chan- 
nels, through  which  flows  the  money  (representing  the 
nutriment)  supplied  by  society  to  the  actual  makers  of  the 
railway.  Now  it  seems  worth  inquiring  whether  this  is  not 
the  original  course  followed  in  the  evolution  of  secreting 
and  excreting  organs  in  an  animal.  We  know  ihat  such  is 
the  process  by  which  the  liver  is  developed.  Out  of  the 
group  of  bile-cells  forming  the  germ  of  it,  some  centrally- 
]:)laced  ones,  lying  next  to  the  intestine,  are  transformed 
into  ducts  through  which  the  secretion  of  the  peripheral 
bile-cells  is  poured  into  the  intestine ;  and  as  the  peripheral 
bile-cells  multiply,  there  similarly  arise  secondary  ducts 
emptying  themselves  into  the  main  ones ;  tertiary  ones  into 
these ;  and  so  on.  Recent  inquiries  show  that  the  like  is 
the  case  with  the  lungs, — that  the  bronchial  tubes  are  thus 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHYSIOLOGY.  107 

formed.  But  wliile  analog-y  suggests  that  tliis  is  the 
original  mode  in  which  such  organs  are  developed,  it  at  the 
same  time  suggests  that  this  does  not  necessarily  continue 
to  be  the  mode.  For  as  we  find  that  in  the  social  organism, 
manufacturing  establishments  are  no  longer  commonly 
developed  through  the  series  of  modifications  above  described, 
but  now  mostly  arise  by  the  direct  transformation  of  a 
number  of  persons  into  master,  clerks,  foremen,  workers, 
&c. ;  so  the  approximate  method  of  forming  organs,  may 
in  some  cases  be  replaced  by  a  direct  metamorphosis  of  the 
organic  units  into  the  destined  structure,  without  any  tran- 
sitional structures  being  passed  through.  That  there  are 
organs  thus  formed  is  an  ascertained  fact ;  and  the  addi- 
tional question  which  analogy  suggests  is,  whether  the 
direct  method  is  substituted  for  the  indirect  method. 

Such  parallelisms  might  be  multiplied.  And  were  it 
possible  here  to  show  in  detail  the  close  correspondence 
between  the  two  kinds  of  organization,  our  case  would  be 
seen  to  have  abundant  support.  But,  as  it  is,  these  few 
illustrations  will  sufficiently  justify  the  opinion  that  study 
of  organized  bodies  may  be  indirectly  furthered  by  study 
of  the  body  politic.  Hints  may  be  expected,  if  nothing 
more.  And  thus  we  venture  to  think  that  the  Inductive 
Method,  usually  alone  employed  by  most  physiologists,  may 
not  only  derive  important  assistance  from  the  Deductive 
Method,  but  may  further  be  supplemented  by  the  Socio- 
logical Method,     -'-  ' 


THE   NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS. 

[^First  pvhUslied  in  The  Westminster  Review/or  July,  1858.  In 
explanation  of  sundry  passages,  it  seems  needful  to  state  that  this 
essay  was  written  in  defence  of  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  at  a  time 
when  it  had  fallen  into  disrepute.  Hence  there  are  some  opiniont 
spoken  of  as  current  which  are  no  longer  current.^ 

Inquiring  into  the  pedigree  of  an  idea  is  not  a  bad  means 
of  roughly  estimating  its  value.  To  have  come  of  respect- 
able ancestry,  is  prima  facie  evidence  of  worth  in  a  belief 
as  in  a  person ;  while  to  be  descended  from  a  discreditable 
stock  is,  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other,  an  unfavourable 
index.  The  analogy  is  not  a  mere  fancy.  Beliefs,  together 
with  those  who  hold  them,  are  modified  little  by  little  in 
successive  generations ;  and  as  the  modifications  which 
successive  generations  of  the  holders  undergo  do  not  de- 
stroy the  original  type,  but  only  disguise  and  refine  it,  so 
the  accompanying  alterations  of  belief,  however  much  they 
purify,  leave  behind  the  essence  of  the  original  belief. 

Considered  genealogically,  the  received  theory  respecting 
the  creation  of  the  Solar  System  is  unmistakably  of  low 
origin.  You  may  clearly  trace  it  back  to  primitive  mytholo- 
gies. Its  remotest  ancestor  is  the  doctrine  that  the  celestial 
bodies  are  personages  who  originally  lived  on  the  Earth — • 
a  doctrine  still  held  by  some  of  the  negroes  Livingstone 
visited.  Science  having  divested  the  sun  and  planets  of 
their  divine  personalities,  this  old  idea  was  succeeded  by 
the  idea  which  even  Kepler  entertained,  that  the  planets 
are  guided  in  their  courses  by  presiding  spirits  :  no  longer 
themselves  gods,  they  are  still  severally  kept  in  their  orbits 
by  gods.  And  when  gravitation  came  to  dispense  with 
these  celestial  steersmen,  thei'e  was  begotten  a  belief,  less 


THE    NEBULxVR   HYPOTHESIS.  109 

gross  than  its  parent,  but  partaking  of  the  same  essential 
nature,  that  the  planets  were  originally  launched  into  their 
orbits  by  the  Creator's  hand.  Evidently,  though  much 
refined,  the  anthropomorphism  of  the  current  hypothesis  is 
inherited  from  the  aboriginal  anthropomorphism,  which 
described  gods  as  a  stronger  order  of  men. 

There  is  an  antagonist  hypothesis  which  does  not 
propose  to  honour  the  Unknown  Power  manifested  in  the 
Universe,  by  such  titles  as  "  The  Master-Builder,"  or  "  The 
Great  Artificer;"  but  which  regards  this  Unknown  Power 
as  probably  working  after  a  method  quite  different  from 
that  of  human  mechanics.  And  the  genealogy  of  this 
hypothesis  is  as  high  as  that  of  the  other  is  low.  It  is  be- 
gotten by  that  ever-enlarging  and  ever-strengthening  belief 
in  the  presence  of  Law,  which  accumulated  experiences  have 
gradually  produced  in  the  human  mind.  From  genera- 
tion to  generation  Science  has  been  proving  uniformities 
of  relation  among  phenonicna  which  were  before  thought 
either  fortuitous  or  supernatural  in  their  origin — has  been 
showing  an  established  order  and  a  constant  causation 
where  ignorance  had  assumed  irregularity  and  arbitrariness. 
Each  further  discovery  of  Law  has  increased  the  presump- 
tion that  Law  is  everywhere  conformed  to.  And  hence, 
among  other  beliefs,  has  arisen  the  belief  that  the  Solar 
System  originated,  not  by  manvfadure  but  by  evolution. 
Besides  its  abstract  parentage  in  those  grand  general  con- 
ceptions which  Science  has  generated,  this  hypothesis  has 
a  concrete  parentage  of  the  highest  character.  Based  as 
it  is  on  the  law  of  universal  gravitation,  it  may  claim  for 
its  remote  progenitor  the  great  thinker  who  established 
that  law.  It  was  first  suggested  by  one  who  ranks  high 
among  philosophers.  The  man  who  collected  evidence 
indicating  that  stars  result  from  the  aggregation  of  diffused 
matter,  was  the  most  diligent,  careful,  and  original 
astronomical  observer  of  modern  times.  And  the  world 
has  not  seen  a  more  learned  mathematician  than  the  man 


110  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

wlio,  setting  out  with  this  conception  of  diffused  matter 
concentrating  towards  its  centre  of  gravity,  pointed  out  the 
way  in  which  there  would  arise,  in  the  course  of  its  con- 
centration, a  balanced  group  of  sun,  planets,  and  satellites, 
like  that  of  which  the  Earth  is  a  member. 

Thus,  even  were  there  but  little  direct  evidence  assign- 
able for  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  the  probability  of  its 
truth  would  be  strong.  Its  own  high  derivation  and  the 
low  derivation  of  the  antagonist  hypothesis,  would 
together  form  a  weighty  reason  for  accepting  it — at  any 
rate,  provisionally.  But  the  direct  evidence  assignable  for 
the  Nebular  Hypothesis  is  by  no  means  little.  It  is  far 
greater  in  quantity,  and  more  varied  in  kind,  than  is  com- 
monly supposed.  Much  has  been  said  here  and  there  on 
this  or  that  class  of  evidences ;  but  nowhere,  so  far  as  we 
know,  have  all  the  evidences  been  fully  stated.  We  pro- 
pose here  to  do  something  towards  supplying  the  deficiency : 
believing  that,  joined  with  the  a  'priori  reasons  given  above, 
the  array  of  a  posteriori  reasons  will  leave  little  doubt  in 
the  mind  of  any  candid  inquirer. 

And  first,  let  us  address  ourselves  to  those  recent  dis- 
coveries in  stellar  astronomy  which  have  been  supposed  to 
conflict  with  this  celebrated  speculation. 

When  Sir  William  Herschel,  directing  his  great  reflector 
to  various  nebulous  spots,  found  them  resolvable  into  clus- 
ters of  stars,  he  inferred,  and  for  a  time  maintained,  that 
all  nebulous  spots  are  clusters  of  stars  exceedingly  remote 
from  us.  But  after  years  of  conscientious  investigation,  he 
concluded  that  "  there  were  nebulosities  which  are  not  of 
a  starry  nature ;  "  and  on  this  conclusion  was  based  his 
hypothesis  of  a  diffused  luminous  fluid  which,  by  its 
eventual  aggregation,  produced  stars.  A  telescopic  power 
much  exceeding  that  used  by  Herschel,  has  enabled  Lord 
Rosse  to  resolve  some  of  the  nebulaa  previously  unresolved ; 
and,   returning    to   the   conclusion   which    Herschel   first 


THE    NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS.  Ill 

formed  on  similar  grounds  but  afterwards  rejected,  many 
astronomers  have  assumed  that,  under  sufficiently  high 
powers,  every  nebula  would  be  decomposed  into  stars — 
that  the  irresolvability  is  due  solely  to  distance.  The 
hypothesis  now  commonly  entertained  is,  that  all  nebulas 
are  galaxies  more  or  less  like  in  nature  to  that  immediately 
surrounding  us  ;  but  that  they  are  so  inconceivably  remote 
as  to  look,  through  ordinary  telescopes,  like  small  faint 
spots.  And  not  a  few  have  drawn  the  corollary,  that  by 
the  discoveries  of  Lord  Rosse  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  has 
been  disproved. 

Now,  even  supposing  that  these  inferences  respecting 
the  distances  and  natures  of  the  nebulae  are  valid,  they 
leave  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  substantially  as  it  was. 
Admitting  that  each  of  these  faint  spots  is  a  sidereal 
system,  so  far  removed  that  its  countless  stars  give  less 
light  than  one  small  star  of  our  own  sidereal  system ;  the 
admission  is  in  no  way  inconsistent  with  the  belief  that 
stars,  and  their  attendant  planets,  have  been  formed  by  the 
aggregation  of  nebulous  matter.  Though,  doubtless,  if 
the  existence  of  nebulous  matter  now  in  course  of  concen- 
tration be  disproved,  one  of  the  evidences  of  the  Nebular 
Hypothesis  is  destroyed,  yet  the  remaining  evidences 
remain.  It  is  a  tenable  position  that  though  nebular  con- 
densation is  now  nowhere  to  be  seen  in  progress,  yet  it  was 
once  going  on  universally.  And.  indeed,  it  might  be 
argued  that  the  still-continued  existence  of  diffused  nebu- 
lous matter  is  scarcely  to  be  expected ;  seeing  that  the 
causes  which  have  resulted  in  the  aggregation  of  ono 
mass,  must  have  been  acting  on  all  masses,  and  that  hence 
the  existence  of  masses  not  aggregated  would  be  a  fact 
calling  for  explanation.  Thus,  granting  the  immediate 
conclusions  suggested  by  these  recent  disclosures  of  the 
six-feet  reflector,  the  corollary  which  many  have  drawn  is 
inadmissible. 

But  these  conclusions  may    be   successfully    contested. 


112  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

Receiving  them  though  we  have  been,  for  years  past,  as 
established  truths,  a  critical  examination  of  the  facts  haa 
convinced  us  that  they  are  quite  unwarrantable.  They 
involve  so  many  manifest  incongruities,  that  we  have  been 
astonished  to  find  men  of  science  entertaining  them,  evea 
as  probable.     Let  us  consider  these  incongruities. 

In  the  first  place,  mark  what  is  inferable  from  the  dis- 
tribution of  nebulae. 

"  The  spaces  which  precede  or  which  follow  simple  nebula,"  says  Arago, 
"  and  d  fortiori,  groups  of  nebulae,  contain  generally  few  stars.  Herschel 
found  this  rule  to  be  invariable.  Thus  every  time  that  during  a  short 
interval  no  star  approached  in  virtue  of  the  diurnal  motion,  to  place  itself 
in  the  field  of  his  motionless  telescope,  he  was  accustomed  to  say  to  the 
secretary  who  assisted  him, — '  Prepare  to  write ;  nebula?  are  about  to  arrive.'  '• 

How  does  this  fact  consist  with  the  hypothesis  that 
nebultB  are  remote  galaxies?  If  there  were  but  one  nebula, 
it  would  be  a  curious  coincidence  were  this  one  nebula  so 
placed  in  the  distant  regions  of  space,  as  to  agree  in  direc- 
tion with  a  starless  spot  in  our  own  sidereal  system.  If 
there  were  but  two  nebulfe,  and  both  were  so  placed,  tho 
coincidence  would  be  excessively  strange.  What,  then, 
shall  we  say  on  finding  that  there  ai'o  thousands  of  nebulse 
so  placed  ?  Shall  we  believe  that  in  thousands  of  cases 
these  far-removed  galaxies  happen  to  agree  in  their  visible 
positions  with  the  thin  places  in  our  own  galaxy  ?  Such  a 
belief  is  impossible. 

Still  more  manifest  does  the  impossibility  of  it  become 
when  we  consider  tho  general  distribution  of  nebulae. 
Besides  again  showing  itself  in  the  fact  that  "  the  poorest 
regions  in  stars  are  near  the  richest  in  nebulie,"  the  law 
above  specified  applies  to  the  heavens  as  a  whole.  In 
that  zone  of  celestial  space  where  stars  are  excessively 
abundant,  nebulEE  are  rare;  while  in  the  two  opposite 
( el 'stial  spaces  that  are  furthest  removed  from  this  zone, 
nebulae  are  abundant.  Scarcely  any  nebulaj  lie  near  the 
galactic  circle  (or    plane  of   the   Milky  Way)  ;    and   tho 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  113 

great  mass  of  them  lie  round  the  galactic  poles.  Can  this 
also  be  mere  coincidence  ?  When  to  the  fact  that  the 
general  mass  of  nebulce  are  antithetical  in  position  to  the 
general  mass  of  stars,  we  add  the  fact  that  local  regions  of 
nebulas  are  regions  where  stars  are  scarce,  and  the  further 
fact  that  single  nebulae  are  habitually  found  in  compara- 
tively starless  spots ;  does  not  the  proof  of  a  physical 
connexion  become  overwhelming?  Should  it  not  require 
an  infinity  of  evidence  to  show  that  nebulae  are  not  parts 
of  our  sidereal  system  ?  Let  us  see  whether  any  such 
infinity  of  evidence  is  assignable.  Let  us  see  whether  there 
is  even  a  single  alleged  proof  which  will  bear  examination. 
"As  seen  through  colossal  telescopes,"  says  Humboldt,  "  the  contemplation 
of  these  nebulous  masses  leads  us  into  regions  from  whence  a  ray  of  light, 
according  to  an  assumption  not  wholly  improbable,  requires  millions  of  years 
to  reach  our  earth — to  distances  for  whose  measurement  the  dimensions  (the 
distance  of  Sirius,  or  the  calculated  distances  of  the  binary  stars  in  Cygnus 
and  the  Centaur)  of  our  nearest  stratum  of  fixed  stars  scarcely  sufifice." 

In  this  confused  sentence  there  is  implied  a  belief,  that 
the  distances  of  the  nebulse  from  our  galaxy  of  stars  as 
much  transcend  the  distances  of  our  stars  from  one 
another,  as  these  interstellar  distances  transcend  the 
dimensions  of  our  planetary  system.  Just  as  the  diameter 
of  the  Earth's  orbit,  is  a  mere  point  when  compared  with 
the  distance  of  our  Sun  from  Sirius;  so  is  the  distance 
of  our  Sun  from  Sirius,  a  mere  point  when  compared 
with  the  distance  of  our  galaxy  from  those  far-removed 
galaxies  constituting  nebulae.  Observe  the  consequences 
of  this  assumption. 

If  one  of  these  supposed  galaxies  is  so  remote  that  its 
distance  dwarfs  our  interstellar  spaces  into  points,  and 
therefore  makes  the  dimensions  of  our  whole  sidereal 
system  relatively  insignificant ;  does  it  not  inevitably 
follow  that  the  telescopic  power  required  to  resolve  tins 
remote  galaxy  into  stars,  must  be  incomparably  greater 
than  the  telescopic  power  required  to  resolve  the  whole 


114  THE    NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS. 

of  our  own  galaxy  into  stars  ?  Is  it  not  certain  that  an 
instrument  which  can  just  exhibit  with  clearness  the  most 
distant  stars  of  our  own  cluster,  must  be  utterly  unable  to 
separate  one  of  these  remote  clusters  into  stars  ?  What, 
then,  are  we  to  think  when  we  find  that  the  same 
instrument  which  decomposes  hosts  of  nebulae  into  stars, 
fails  to  resolve  completely  our  own  Milky  Way  ?  Take 
a  homely  comparison.  Suppose  a  man  who  was  surrounded 
by  a  swarm  of  bees,  extending,  as  they  sometimes  do,  so 
high  in  the  air  as  to  render  some  of  the  individual  bees 
almost  invisible,  were  to  declare  that  a  certain  spot  on  the 
horizon  was  a  swarm  of  bees ;  and  that  he  knew  it  because 
he  could  see  the  bees  as  separate  specks.  Incredible  as 
the  assertion  would  be,  it  would  not  exceed  in  incredibility 
this  which  we  are  criticising.  Reduce  the  dimensions  to 
figures,  and  the  absurdity  becomes  still  more  palpable. 
In  round  numbers,  the  distance  of  Sirius  from  the  Earth 
is  half  a  million  times  the  distance  of  the  Earth  from  the 
Sun ;  and,  according  to  the  hypothesis,  the  distance  of  a 
nebula  is  something  like  half  a  million  times  the  distance 
of  Sirius.  Now,  our  own  '^  starry  island,  or  nebula,"  as 
Humboldt  calls  it,  "forms  a  lens-shaped,  flattened,  and 
everywhere  detached  stratum,  whose  major  axis  is 
estimated  at  seven  or  eight  hundred,  and  its  minor  axis 
at  a  hundred  and  fifty  times  the  distance  of  Sirius  from 
the  Earth.'^*  And  since  it  is  concluded  that  the  Solar 
System  is  near  the  centre  of  this  aggregation,  it  follows 
that  our  distance  from  the  remotest  parts  of  it  is  some  four 
hundred  distances  of  Sirius.  But  the  stars  forming  these 
remotest  parts  are  not  individually  visible,  even  through 
telescopes  of  the  highest  power.  How,  then,  can  such 
telescopes  make  individually  visible  the  stars  of  a  nebula 
which  is  half  a  million  times  the  distance  of  Sirius  ?  The 
Implication  is,  that  a  star  rendered  invisible  by  distance 
•  Cosvw$.    (Seventh  Edition.)    Vol.  i.  pp.  79,  80. 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  115 

becomes  visible  if  taken  twelve  Hundred  times  further  off ! 
Shall  we  accept  this  implication  ?  or  shall  we  not  rather 
conclude  that  the  nebula  are  not  remote  galaxies  ?  Shall 
we  not  infer  that,  be  their  nature  what  it  may,  they  must 
be  at  least  as  near  to  us  as  the  extremities  of  our  own 
sidereal  system  ? 

Throughout  the  above  argument,  it  is  tacitly  assumed 
that  did'erences  of  apparent  magnitude  among  the  stars, 
result  mainly  from  differences  of  distance.  On  this 
assumption  the  current  doctrines  respecting  the  nebulae  are 
founded ;  and  this  assumption  is,  for  the  nonce,  admitted 
in  each  of  the  foregoing  criticisms.  From  the  time,  how- 
ever, when  it  was  first  made  by  Sir  W.  Herschel,  this 
assumption  has  been  purely  gratuitous;  and  it  now 
proves  to  be  inadmissible.  But,  awkwardly  enough,  its 
truth  and  its  untruth  are  alike  fatal  to  the  conclusions  of 
those  who  argue  after  the  manner  of  Humboldt.  Note 
the  alternatives. 

On  the  one  hand,  what  follows  from  the  untruth  of  the 
assumption  ?  If  apparent  largeness  of  stars  is  not  due  to 
comparative  nearness,  and  their  successively  smaller  sizes 
to  their  greater  and  greater  degrees  of  remoteness,  what 
becomes  of  the  inferences  respecting  the  dimensions  of  our 
sidereal  system  and  the  distances  of  nebulae?  If,  as  has 
lately  been  shown,  the  almost  invisible  star  61  Cygni 
has  a  greater  parallax  than  a  Cygni,  though,  according  to 
an  estimate  based  on  Sir  W.  Herschel's  assumption,  it 
should  be  about  twelve  times  more  distant — if,  as  it  turns 
out,  there  exist  telescopic  stars  which  are  nearer  to  us 
than  Sirius ;  of  what  worth  is  the  conclusion  that  the 
nebulae  are  very  remote,  because  their  component  luminous 
masses  are  made  visible  only  by  high  telescopic  powers  ? 
Clearly,  if  the  most  brilliant  star  in  the  heavens  and  a 
star  that  cannot  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  prove  to  be 
equidistant,  relative  distances  cannot  be  in  the  least 
inferred  from  relative  visibilities.     And  if  so,  nebulte  may 


116  THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS. 

be  comparatively  near,  though  the  starlets  of  which  they 
are  made  up  appear  extremely  minute. 

On  the  other  hand,  what  follows  if  the  truth  of  the 
assumption  be  granted  ?  The  arguments  used  to  justify 
this  assumption  in  the  case  of  the  stars,  equally  justify  it 
in  the  case  of  the  nebalae.  It  cannot  be  contended  that, 
on  the  average,  the  apparent  sizes  of  the  stars  indicate 
their  distances,  without  its  being  admitted  that,  on  the 
average,  the  apparent  sizes  of  the  nebulae  indicate  their 
distances — that,  generally  speaking,  the  larger  are  the 
nearer  and  the  smaller  are  the  more  distant.  Mark,  now, 
the  necessary  inference  respecting  their  resolvability. 
The  largest  or  nearest  nebulae  will  be  most  easily  resolved 
into  stars ;  the  successively  smaller  will  be  successively 
more  difficult  of  resolution ;  and  the  irresolvable  ones  will 
be  the  smallest  ones.  This,  however,  is  exactly  the 
reverse  of  the  fact.  The  largest  nebulae  are  either  wholly 
irresolvable,  or  but  partially  resolvable  under  the  highest 
telescopic  powers;  while  large  numbers  of  quite  small 
nebulae  are  easily  resolved  by  far  less  powerful  telescopes. 
An  instrument  through  which  the  great  nebula  in  Andro- 
meda, two  and  a  half  degrees  long  and  one  degree  broad, 
appears  merely  as  a  diffused  light,  decomposes  a  nebula  of 
fifteen  minutes  diameter  into  twenty  thousand  starry  points. 
At  the  same  time  that  the  individual  stars  of  a  nebula  eight 
minutes  in  diameter  are  so  clearly  seen  as  to  allow  of  their 
number  being  estimated,  a  nebula  covering  an  area  five 
hundred  times  as  great  shows  no  stars  at  all !  What 
possible  explanation  of  this  can  be  given  on  the 
current  hypothesis  ? 

Yet  a  further  difficulty  remains — one  which  is,  perhaps, 
still  more  obviously  fatal  than  the  foregoing.  This  diffi- 
culty is  presented  by  the  phenomena  of  the  Magellanic  clouds. 
Describing  the  larger  of  these.  Sir  John  Herschel  says  : — 

'♦  The  Nubecula  Major,  like  the  Minor,  consists  partly  of  large  tracts  and 
ill-defined  patches  of  irresolvable  nebula,  and  of  nebulosity  in  every  stage  of 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  117 

resolution,  up  to  perfectly  resolved  stars  like  the  Milky  Way,  as  also  of 
regular  and  irregular  nebulas  properly  so  called,  of  globular  clusters  in  every 
stage  of  resolvability,  and  of  clustering  groups  sufficiently  insulated  and 
condensed  to  come  under  the  designation  of  '  clusters  of  stars.'  " — Cape 
Observations,  p.  146. 

In  his  Outlines  of  Astronomy,  Sir  John  Herscliel,  after 
repeating   this   description   in   other   words,   goes    on    to 

remark  that — 

"  This  combination  of  characters,  rightly  considered,  is  in  a  high  degree 
instructive,  affording  an  insight  into  the  probable  comparative  distance  of 
stars  and  nehulce,  and  the  real  brightness  of  individual  stars  as  compared 
with  one  another.  Taking  the  apparent  semidiameter  of  the  nubecula 
major  at  three  degrees,  and  regarding  its  solid  form  as,  roughly  speaking, 
spherical,  its  nearest  and  most  remote  parts  differ  in  their  distance  from  U3 
by  a  little  more  than  a  tenth  part  of  our  distance  from  its  center.  The 
brightness  of  objects  situated  in  its  nearer  portions,  therefore,  cannot  be 
much  exaggerated,  nor  that  of  its  remoter  vmcli  enfeebled,  by  their  difference 
of  distance ;  yet  within  this  globular  space,  we  have  collected  upwards  of  six 
hundred  stars  of  the  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  magnitudes,  nearly  three 
hundred  nebulte,  and  globular  and  other  clusters,  o/aW  deprces  ofresohmbility, 
and  smaller  scattered  stars  innumerable  of  every  inferior  magnitude,  from 
the  tenth  to  such  as  by  their  multitude  and  minuteness  constitute  irresolvable 
nebulosity,  extending  over  tracts  of  many  square  degrees.  Were  there  but 
one  such  object,  it  might  be  maintained  without  utter  improbability  that  its 
apparent  sphericity  is  only  an  effect  of  foreshortening,  and  that  in  reality  a 
much  greater  proportional  difference  of  distance  between  its  nearer  and  more 
remote  parts  exists.  But  such  an  adjustment,  improbable  enough  in  one 
case,  must  be  rejected  as  too  much  so  for  fair  argument  in  two.  It  must, 
therefore,  be  taken  as  a  demonstrated  fact,  that  stars  of  the  seventh  or 
eighth  magnitude  and  irresolvable  nebula  may  co-exist  within  limits  of 
distance  not  differing  in  proportion  more  than  as  nine  to  ten." — Outlines  of 
Astronomy  (10th  Ed.),  pp.  C5G-57. 

This  supplies  yet  another  rcductio  ad  ahsunhim  of  the 
doctrine  we  are  combating.  It  gives  us  the  choice  of  two 
incredibilities.  If  we  are  to  believe  that  one  of  these 
included  nebnkx;  is  so  remote  that  its  hundred  thousand 
stars  look  like  a  milky  spot,  invisible  to  the  naked  eye ; 
we  must  also  believe  that  there  are  single  stars  so  enormous 
that  though  removed  to  this  same  distance  they  remain 
visible.  If  we  accept  the  other  alternative,  and  say  that 
many  nebula3  are  no  further  off  than  our  own  stars  of  the 
eighth  magnitude ;    then  it  is  requisite  to  say  that  at  a 


tl8  THE    NEBULAE   HYPOTHESIS. 

distance  not  greater  than  that  at  whicli  a  single  star  is  still 
faintly  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  there  may  exist  a  group  of 
a  hundred  thousand  stars  which  is  invisible  to  the  naked 
eye.  Neither  of  these  suppositions  can  be  entertained. 
What,  then,  is  the  conclusion  that  remains  ?  This  only  : 
— that  the  nebulae  are  not  further  from  us  than  parts  of  our 
own  sidereal  system,  of  which  they  must  be  considered 
members ;  and  that  when  they  are  resolvable  into  discrete 
masses,  these  masses  cannot  be  considered  as  stars  in  any- 
thing like  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  word.* 

And  now,  having  seen  the  untenability  of  this  idea, 
rashly  espoused  by  sundry  astronomers,  that  the  nebulae 
are  extremely  remote  galaxies  ;  let  us  consider  whether  the 
various  appearances  they  present  are  not  reconcilable  with 
the  Nebular  Hypothesis. 

Given  a  rare  and  widely-diffused  mass  of  nebulous  matter, 
having  a  diameter,  say,  of  one  hundred  times  that  of  the 
Solar  System,t  what  are  the  successive  changes  that  may 
be  expected  to  take  place  in  it  ?  Mutual  gravitation  will 
approximate  its  atoms  or  its  molecules ;  but  their  approxi- 
mation will  be  opposed  by  that  atomic  motion  the  resultant 
of  which  we  recognize  as  repulsion,  and  the  overcoming 
of  which  implies  the  evolution  of  heat.  As  fast  as  this 
heat  partiall}'^  escapes  by  radiation,  further  approximation 
will  take  place,  jittended  by  further  evolution  of  heat,  and 
so  on  continuously:  the  processes  not  occurring  separately 
as  here  described,  but  simultaneously,  uninterruptedly,  and 
with  increasing  activity.     When  the  nebulous  mass    ha  • 

*  Since  the  publication  of  this  essay  the  late  Mr.  R.  A.  Proctor  has  given 
various  further  reasons  for  the  conclusion  that  the  nol)a1;e  belong  to  our 
own  sidereal  system.  The  opposite  conclusion,  contested  throughout  the 
foregoing  section,  has  now  been  tacitly  abandoned. 

f  Any  objection  made  to  the  extreme  tenuity  this  involves,  is  met  by  the 
calculation  of  Newton,  who  proved  that  were  a  spherical  inch  cf  air  removed 
four  thousand  miles  from  the  Earth,  it  would  expand  into  a  sphere  mora 
than  fdling  tha  orbit  oi  Satura. 


THE    NEBULAE    HYPOTHESIS.  119 

reached  a  particular  stage  of  condensation — when  its 
internally-situated  atoms  have  approached  to  within  certain 
distances,  have  generated  a  certain  amount  of  heat,  and 
are  subject  to  a  certain  mutual  pressure,  combinations  may 
be  anticipated.  Whether  the  molecules  produced  be  of 
kinds  such  as  we  know,  which  is  possible,  or  whether  they 
be  of  kinds  simpler  than  any  we  know,  which  is  more 
probable,  matters  not  to  the  argument.  It  suffices  that 
molecular  unions,  either  between  atoms  of  the  same  kind 
or  between  atoms  of  different  kinds,  will  finally  take  place. 
When  they  do  take  place,  they  will  be  accompanied  by  a 
sudden  and  great  disengagement  of  heat;  and  until  this 
excess  of  heat  has  escaped,  the  newly-formed  molecules  will 
remain  uniformly  diffused,  or,  as  it  were,  dissolved  in  the 
pre-existing  nebulous  medium. 

But  now  what  may  be  expected  by  and  by  to  happen  ? 
When  radiation  has  adequately  lowered  the  temperature, 
these  molecules  will  precipitate ;  and,  having  precipitated, 
they  will  not  remain  uniformly  diffused,  but  will  aggregate 
into  flocculi;  just  as  water,  precipitated  from  air,  collects 
into  clouds.  Concluding,  thus,  that  a  nebulous  mass  will, 
in  course  of  time,  resolve  itself  into  flocculi  of  precipitated 
denser  matter,  floating  in  the  rarer  medium  from  which 
they  were  precipitated,  let  us  inquire  what  are  the  mechan- 
ical results  to  be  inferred.  Of  clustered  bodies  in  empty 
space,  each  will  move  along  a  line  which  is  the  resultant 
of  the  tractive  forces  exercised  by  all  the  rest,  modified 
from  moment  to  moment  by  the  acquired  motion  ;  and  the 
aggregation  of  such  clustered  bodies,  if  it  eventually 
results  at  all,  can  result  only  from  collision,  dissipation,  and 
the  formation  of  a  resisting  medium.  But  with  clustered 
bodies  already  immersed  in  a  resisting  medium,  and 
especially  if  such  bodies  are  of  small  densities,  such  as 
those  we  are  considering,  the  process  of  concentration  will 
begin  forthwith :  two  factors  conspiring  to  produce  it. 
The  flocculi  described,  irregular  in  their  shapes  and  pre* 


120  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTflESIS. 

senting,  as  they  must  in  nearly  all  cases,  nnsymmetrical 
faces  to  their  lines  of  motion,  will  be  deflected  from  those 
courses  which  mutual  gravitation,  if  uninterfered  with, 
would  produce  among  them;  and  this  will  militate  against 
that  balancing  of  movements  which  permanence  of  the 
cluster  pre-supposes.  If  it  be  said,  as  it  may  truly  be 
said,  that  this  is  too  trifling  a  cause  of  derangement  to 
produce  much  effect,  then  there  comes  the  more  important 
cause  with  which  it  co-operates.  The  medium  from  which 
the  flocculi  have  been  precipitated,  and  through  which  they 
are  moving,  must,  by  gravitation,  be  rendered  denser  in 
its  central  parts  than  in  its  peripheral  parts.  Hence  the 
flocculi,  none  of  them  moving  in  straight  lines  to  the 
common  centre  of  gravity,  but  having  courses  made  to 
diverge  to  one  or  other  side  of  it  (in  small  degrees  by  the 
cause  just  assigned,  and  in  much  greater  degrees  by 
the  tractive  forces  of  other  flocculi)  will,  in  moving  towards 
the  central  region,  meet  with  greater  resistances  on  their 
inner  sides  than  on  their  outer  sides;  and  will  be  thus  made 
to  diverge  outwardly  from  their  courses  more  than  they 
would  otherwise  do.  Hence  a  tendency  which,  apart  from 
other  tendencies,  will  cause  them  severally  to  go  on  one  or 
other  side  of  the  centre  of  gravity,  and,  approaching  it,  to  get 
motions  more  and  more  tangential.  Observe,  however,  that 
their  respective  motions  will  be  deflected,  not  towards  one 
side  of  the  common  centre  of  gravity,  but  towards  various 
sides.  How  then  can  there  result  a  movement  common  to 
them  all  ?  Very  simply.  Each  flocculus,  in  describing  its 
course,  must  give  motion  to  the  medium  through  which  it 
is  moving.  But  the  probabilities  are  infinity  to  one  against 
all  the  respective  motions  thus  impressed  on  this  medium, 
exactly  balancing  one  another.  And  if  they  do  not  balance 
one  another  the  result  must  be  rotation  of  the  whole  mass 
of  the  medium  in  one  direction.  But  preponderating 
momentum  in  one  direction,  having  caused  rotation  of  tho 
medium  in  that  direction,  the  rotating  medium  lOiust  in  its 


THE    NEBULAR   HYrOTHESIS.  121 

turn  gradually  arrest  such  flocculi  as  are  moving  in  opposi- 
tion^  and  impress  its  own  motion  upon  them;  and  thus 
there  will  ultimately  be  formed  a  rotating  medium  with 
suspended  flocculi  partaking  of  its  motion^  while  they  move  in 
converging  spirals  towards  the  common  centre  of  gravity.* 
Before  comparing  these  conclusions  with  facts,  let  us 
pursue  the  reasoning  a  little  further,  and  observe  certain 
subordinate  actions.  The  respective  flocculi  must  be 
drawn  not  towards  their  common   centre  of  gravity  only, 

*  A  reference  may  fitly  be  made  hero  to  a  reason  given  by  Mens.  Babinet 
for  rejection  of  the  Nebular  Hypothesis.  He  has  calculated  that  taking  the 
existing  Sun,  with  its  observed  angular  velocity,  its  substance,  if  expanded 
80  as  to  fill  the  orbit  of  Neptune,  would  have  nothing  approaching  the 
angular  velocity  which  the  time  of  revolution  of  that  planet  implies.  The 
assuraption  he  makes  is  inadmissible.  He  supposes  that  all  parts  of  the 
nebulous  spheroid  when  it  filled  Neptune's  orbit,  had  the  same  angular 
velocities.  But  the  process  of  nebular  condensation  as  indicated  above, 
implies  that  the  remoter  flocculi  of  nebulous  matter,  later  in  reaching 
the  central  mass,  and  forming  its  peripheral  portions,  will  acquire,  during 
their  longer  journeys  towards  it,  greater  velocities.  An  inspection  of  one 
of  the  spiral  nebulaa,  as  51st  or  99th  Messier,  at  once  shows  that  the  out- 
lying portions  when  they  reach  the  nucleus,  will  form  an  equatorial  belt 
moving  round  the  common  centre  more  rapidly  than  the  rest.  Thus  the 
central  parts  will  have  small  angular  velocities,  while  there  will  be  increas- 
ing angular  velocities  of  parts  increasingly  remote  from  the  centre.  And 
while  the  density  of  the  spheroid  continues  small,  fluid  friction  will  scarcely 
at  all  change  these  differences. 

A  like  criticism  may,  I  think,  be  passed  on  an  opinion  expressed  by  Prof. 
Newcomb.  He  says  : — "  When  the  contraction  [of  the  nebulous  spheroid] 
had  gone  so  far  that  the  centrifugal  and  attracting  forces  nearly  balanced 
each  other  at  the  outer  equatorial  limit  of  the  mass,  the  result  would  have 
been  that  contraction  in  the  direction  of  the  equator  would  cease  entirely, 
and  be  confined  to  the  polar  regions,  each  particle  dropping,  not  towards  the 
Bun,  but  towards  the  plane  of  the  solar  equator.  Thus,  we  should  have  a 
constant  flattening  of  the  spheroidal  atmosphere  until  it  was  reduced  to  a 
thin  fiat  disk.  This  disk  might  then  separate  itself  into  rings,  which  would 
form  planets  in  much  the  same  way  that  Laplace  supposed.  But  there  would 
probably  be  no  marked  difference  in  the  age  of  the  planets."  {Popular 
Astronomy,  p.  512.)  Now  this  conclusion  assumes,  like  that  of  M.  Babinet, 
that  all  parts  of  the  nebulous  spheroid  had  equal  angular  velocities.  If, 
as  above  contended,  it  is  inferable  from  the  process  by  which  a  nebulous 
spheroid  was  formed,  that  its  outer  portions  revolved  with  greater  angular 
velocities  tl;:in  its  inner  ;  thcii  the  inference  which  I'rcf.  Newcomb  draws  is 
not  necessitated. 


122  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

but  also  towards  neighbouring  flocculi.  Hence  tlie  whole 
assemblage  of  flocculi  will  break  up  into  groups  :  each 
group  concentrating  towards  its  local  centre  of  gravity, 
and  in  so  doing  acquiring  a  vortical  movement  like  that 
subsequently  acquired  by  the  whole  nebula.  According  to 
circumstances,  and  chiefly  according  to  the  size  of  the 
original  nebulous  mass,  this  process  of  local  aggregation 
will  produce  various  results.  If  the  whole  nebula  is  but 
small,  the  local  groups  of  flocculi  may  be  drawn  into  the 
common  centre  of  gravity  before  their  constituent  masses 
have  coalesced  with  one  another.  In  a  larger  nebula, 
these  local  aggregations  may  have  concentrated  into 
rotating  spheroids  of  vapour,  while  yet  they  have  made 
but  little  approach  towards  the  general  focus  of  the 
system.  In  a  still  larger  nebula,  where  the  local  aggrega- 
tions are  both  greater  and  more  remote  from  the  common 
centre  of  gravity,  they  may  have  condensed  into  masses 
of  molten  matter  before  the  general  distribution  of  them 
has  greatly  altered.  In  short,  as  the  conditions  in  each 
case  determine,  the  discrete  masses  produced  may  vary 
indefinitely  in  number,  in  size,  in  density,  in  motion,  in 
distribution. 

And  now  let  us  return  to  the  visible  characters  of 
nebulae,  as  observed  through  modern  telescopes.  Take 
first  the  description  of  those  nebulae  which,  by  the 
hypothesis,  must  be  in  an  early  stage  of  evolution. 

Among  the  "irreyular  nebula,"  says  Sir  John  Herschel,  "may  bo 
comprehended  all  which,  to  a  want  of  complete  and  in  most  instaiices  even 
of  partial  resolvability  by  the  power  of  the  20-feet  reflector,  unite  such  a 
deviation  from  the  circular  or  elliptic  form,  or  such  a  want  of  symmetry  (with 
that  form)  as  preclude  their  being  placed  in  class  1,  or  that  of  Eegular 
NebultE.  This  second  class  comprises  many  of  the  most  remarkable  and 
interesting  objects  in  the  heavens,  as  well  as  the  most  extensive  in  respect  of 
the  area  tliey  occupy." 

And,  referring  to  this  same  order  of  objects,  M.  Arago 

says  : — "  The   forms  of  very  large   diffuse  nebulae   do  not 

appear  to  admit  of  definition;  they  have  no  regular  outline." 

This   coexistence  of   largeness,  irregularity,    and   inde« 


THE    NCLULAE    HYPOTHESIS.  123 

finiteness  of  outline^  with  irresolvability,  is  extremely 
significant.  The  fact  that  the  largest  nebulaa  are  either 
irresolvable  or  very  difficult  to  resolve,  might  have  been 
inferred  a  priori  ;  seeing  that  irresolvability,  implying  that 
the  aggregation  of  precipitated  matter  has  gone  on  to  but 
a  small  extent,  will  be  found  in  nebula3  of  wide  diffusion. 
Again,  the  irregularity  of  these  large,  irresolvable  nebulae, 
might  also  have  been  expected ;  seeing  that  their  outlines, 
compared  by  Arago  with  "  the  fantastic  figures  which 
characterize  clouds  carried  away  and  tossed  about  by 
violent  and  often  contrary  winds,"  are  similarly  charac- 
teristic of  a  mass  not  yet  gathered  together  by  the  mutual 
attraction  of  its  parts.  And  once  more,  the  fact  that  these 
large,  irregular,  irresolvable  nebulae  have  indefinite  outlines 
—outlines  that  fade  off  insensibly  into  surrounding  dark- 
ness— is  one  of  like  meaning. 

Speaking  generally  (and  of  course  differences  of  distance 
negative  anything  beyond  average  statements),  the  spiral 
nebulas  are  smaller  than  the  irregular  nebulae,  and  more 
resolvable ;  at  the  same  time  that  they  are  not  so  small 
as  the  regular  nebulae,  and  not  so  resolvable.  This  is  as, 
according  to  the  hypothesis,  it  should  be.  The  degree  of 
condensation  causing  spiral  movement,  is  a  degree  of 
condensation  also  implying  masses  of  flocculi  that  are 
larger,  and  therefore  more  visible,  than  those  existing  in 
an  earlier  stage.  Moreover,  the  forms  of  these  spiral 
nebulae  are  quite  in  harmony  with  the  explanation  given. 
The  curves  of  luminous  matter  which  they  exhibit,  are  not 
such  as  would  be  described  by  discrete  masses  starting 
from  a  state  of  rest,  and  moving  through  a  resisting 
medium  to  a  common  centre  of  gravity ;  but  they  are  such 
as  would  be  described  by  masses  having  their  movements 
modified  by  the  rotation  of  the  medium. 

In  the  centre  of  a  spiral  nebula  is  seen  a  mass  both 
more  luminous  and  more  resolvable  than  the  rest.  Assume 
that,  in  process  of  time,  all  the  spiral  streaks  of  luminous 


12-i  THE    NEBULAR    IIYrOTHESIS. 

matter  ■wliich  converge  to  tliis  centre  are  drawn  into  it^  aa 
they  must  be;  assume  further,  that  the  flocculi,  or  other 
discrete  portious  constituting  these  luminous  streaks, 
aggregate  into  hirger  masses  at  tbe  same  time  that  they 
approach  the  central  group,  and  that  the  masses  forming 
this  central  group  also  aggregate  into  larger  masses ;  and 
there  will  finally  result  a  cluster  of  such  larger  masses, 
which  will  be  resolvable  with  comparative  ease.  And,  as 
the  coalescence  and  concentration  go  on,  the  constituent 
masses  will  gradually  become  fewer,  larger,  brighter,  and 
more  densely  collected  around  the  common  centre  of 
gravity.  See  now  how  completely  this  inference  agrees 
with  observation.  "  The  circular  form  is  that  which  most 
commonly  characterises  resolvable  nebulae,"  writes  Arago. 
Resolvable  nebulae,  says  Sir  John  Herschel,  "  are  almost 
universally  round  or  oval."  Moreover,  the  centre  of  each 
group  habitually  displays  a  closer  clustering  of  the 
constituent  masses  than  the  outer  parts  ;  and  it  is  shown 
that,  under  the  law  of  gravitation,  which  we  now  know 
extends  to  the  stars,  this  distribution  is  not  one  of  equili- 
brium, but  implies  progressing  concentration.  While,  just  as 
we  inferred  that,  according  to  circumstances,  the  extent  to 
which  aggregation  has  been  carried  must  vary;  so  we  find 
that,  in  fact,  there  are  regular  nebulte  of  all  degrees  of 
resolvability,  from  those  consisting  of  innumerable  minuto 
masses,  to  those  in  which  their  numbers  are  smaller  and  the 
sizes  greater,  and  to  those  in  which  there  are  a  few  large 
bodies  worthy  to  be  called  stars. 

On  the  one  hand,  then,  we  see  that  the  notion,  of 
late  years  uncritically  received,  that  the  nebulae  are 
extremely  remote  galaxies  of  stars  like  those  which  make 
up  our  own  Milky  Way,  is  totally  irreconcileable  with  the 
facts — involves  us  in  sundry  absurdities.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  see  that  the  hypothesis  of  nebular  condensation 
harmonizes  with  the  most  recent  results  of  stellar  astro- 
nomy :  nay  more — that  it  supplies  us  with  an  explanation: 


THE   NEBULAR   nVPOTHESIS.  125 

of  various  appearances  wliicli   in   it3   absence   would  be 
incompreliensible. 

Descending"  noAv  to  tlie  Solar  System^  let  us  consider  first 
a  class  of  phenomena  in  some  sort  transitional — tliose 
offered  by  comets.  In  them,  or  at  least  in  those  most 
numerous  of  them  which  lie  far  out  of  the  plane  of  the 
Solar  System,  and  are  not  to  be  counted  among  its 
members,  we  have,  still  existing,  a  kind  of  matter  like  that 
out  of  which,  according  to  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  the 
Solar  System  was  evolved.  Hence,  for  the  explanation  of 
them,  we  must  go  back  to  the  time  when  the  substances 
forming  the  sun  and  planets  were  yet  unconcentrated. 

When  diffused  matter,  precipitated  from  a  rarer  medium, 
is  aggregating,  there  are  certain  to  be  here  and  there 
produced  small  flocculi,  which  long  remain  detached;  as 
do,  for  instance,  minute  shreds  of  cloud  in  a  summer  sky. 
In  a  concentrating  nebula  these  will,  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
eventually  coalesce  with  the  larger  flocculi  near  to  them. 
But  it  is  tolerably  evident  that  some  of  those  formed  at 
the  outermost  parts  of  the  nebula,  will  not  coalesce  with 
the  larger  internal  masses,  but  will  slowly  follow  without 
overtaking  them.  The  relatively  greater  resistance  of  the 
medium  necessitates  this.  As  a  single  feather  falling  to 
the  ground  will  be  rapidly  left  behind  by  a  pillow-full  of 
leathers ;  so,  in  their  progress  to  the  common  centre  of 
gravity,  will  the  outermost  shreds  of  vapour  be  left  behind 
by  the  great  masses  of  vapour  internally  situated.  But 
we  are  not  dependent  merely  on  reasoning  for  this  liclief. 
Observation  shows  us  that  the  less  concentrated  external 
parts  of  nebulaj,  are  left  behind  by  the  more  concentrated 
internal  parts.  Examined  through  high  powers,  all  nebula), 
even  when  they  have  assumed  regular  forms,  are  seen  to 
]De  surrounded  by  luminous  streaks,  of  which  the  directions 
show  that  they  are  being  drawn  into  the  general  mass. 
Still  higher  powers  bring  into  view  still  smaller,  fainter, 


126  THE   NEBULAE   HYPOTHESIS. 

and  more  widely-dispersed  streaks.  And  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  minute  fragments  which  no  telescopic  aid 
makes  visible,  are  yet  more  numerous  and  widely  dispersed. 
Thus  far,  then^  inference  and  observation  are  at  one. 

Granting  that  the  great  majority  of  these  outlying 
portions  of  nebulous  matter  will  be  drawn  into  the  central 
mass  long  before  it  reaches  a  definite  form,  the  presumption 
is  that  some  of  the  very  small,  far-removed  portions 
will  not  be  so ;  but  that  before  they  arrive  near  it,  the 
central  mass  will  have  contracted  into  a  comparatively 
moderate  bulk.  What  now  will  be  the  characters  of  these 
late-arriving  portions  ? 

In  the  first  place,  they  will  have  either  extremely 
eccentric  orbits  or  non-elliptic  paths.  Left  behiod  at  a 
time  when  they  were  moving  towards  the  centre  of  gravity 
in  slightly-deflected  lines,  and  therefore  having  but  very 
small  angular  velocities,  they  will  approach  the  central 
mass  in  greatly  elongated  curves ;  and  rushing  round  it, 
will  go  off  again  into  space.  That  is,  they  will  behave 
just  as  we  see  the  majority  of  comets  do;  the  orbits  of  which 
are  either  so  eccentric  as  to  be  indistinguishable  from  para- 
bolas, or  else  are  not  orbits  at  all,  but  are  paths  which  are 
distinctly  either  parabolic  or  hyperbolic. 

In  the  second  place,  they  will  come  from  all  parts 
of  the  heavens.  Our  supposition  implies  that  they  were 
left  behind  at  a  time  when  the  nebulous  mass  was  of 
irregular  shape,  and  had  not  acquired  a  definite  rotation ; 
and  as  the  separation  of  them  would  not  be  from  any 
one  surface  of  the  nebulous  mass  more  than  another,  the 
conclusion  must  be  that  they  will  come  to  the  central  body 
from  various  directions  in  space.  This,  too,  is  exactly 
what  happens.  Unlike  planets,  whose  orbits  approximate 
to  one  plane,  comets  have  orbits  that  show  no  relation  to 
one  another;  but  cut  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  at  all  angles, 
and  have  axes  inclined  to  it  at  all  angles. 


THE   NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS.  127 

In  the  third  place,  these  remotest  floccuH  of  nebulous 
matter  will,  at  the  outset,  be  deflected  from  their  direct 
courses  to  the  common  centre  of  gravity,  not  all  on  one 
side,  but  each  on  such  side  as  its  form,  or  its  original 
proper  motion,  determines.  And  being  left  behind  before 
the  rotation  of  the  nebula  is  set  up,  they  will  severally 
retain  their  different  individual  motions.  Hence,  following 
the  concentrated  mass,  they  will  eventually  go  round  it 
on  all  sides;  and  as  often  from  right  to  left  as  from  left 
to  right.  Here  again  the  inference  perfectly  corresponds 
with  the  facts.  While  all  the  planets  go  round  the  sun 
from  west  to  east,  comets  as  often  go  round  the  sun  from 
east  to  west  as  from  west  to  east.  Of  262  comets  recorded 
since  1680,  130  are  direct,  and  132  are  retrograde.  This 
equality  is  what  the  law  of  probabilities  would  indicate. 

Then,  in  the  fourth  place,  the  physical  constitution  of 
comets  accords  with  the  hypothesis.*  The  ability  of 
nebulous  matter  to  concentrate  into  a  concrete  form, 
depends  on  its  mass.  To  bring  its  ultimate  atoms  into 
that  proximity  recjuisite  for  chemical  union — requisite,  that 
is,  for  the  production  of  denser  matter — their  repulsion 
must  be  overcome.  The  only  force  antagonistic  to  their 
repulsion,  is  their  mutual  gravitation.  That  their  mutual 
gravitation  may  generate  a  pressure  and  temperature  of 
sufficient  intensity,  there  must  be  an  enormous  accumulation 
of  them ;  and  even  then  the  approximation  can  slowly  go  on 
only  as  fast  as  the  evolved  heat  escapes.  But  where  the 
quantity  of  atoms  is  small,  and  therefore  the  force  of 
mutual  gravitation  small,  there  will  be  nothing  to  coerce 
the    atoms    into    union.     Whence    wo    infer    that   these 

*  It  is  true  that  since  this  essay  was  written  reasons  have  been  given  for 
concluding  that  comets  consist  of  swarms  of  meteors  enveloped  in  aeriform 
matter.  Very  possibly  this  is  the  constitution  of  the  periodic  comets  which, 
approximating  their  orbits  to  the  plane  of  the  Solar  System,  form  established 
parts  of  the  System,  and  which,  AS  will  be  hereafter  indicated,  have 
probably  a  quite  different  origin. 


128  THE  NEDULAR  HYPOTHESIS. 

detached  fragments  of  nebulous  matter  will  continue  in 
their  original  state.     Non-periodic  comets  seem  to  do  so. 

We  have  already  seen  that  this  view  of  the  origin  of 
comets  harmonizes  with  the  characters  of  their  orbits ; 
but  the  evidence  hence  derived  is  much  stronger  than 
was  indicated.  The  great  majority  of  cometary  orbits  are 
classed  as  parabolic ;  and  it  is  ordinarily  inferred  that  they 
are  visitors  from  remote  space,  and  will  never  return. 
But  are  they  rightly  classed  as  parabolic  ?  Observations 
on  a  comet  moving  in  an  extremely  eccentric  ellipse,  which 
are  possible  only  when  it  is  comparatively  near  peri- 
helion, must  fail  to  distinguish  its  orbit  from  a  parabola. 
Evidently,  then,  it  is  not  safe  to  class  it  as  a  parabola 
because  of  inability  to  detect  the  elements  of  an  ellipse. 
But  if  extreme  eccentricity  of  an  orbit  necessitates  such 
inability,  it  seems  quite  possible  that  comets  have  no  other 
orbits  than  elliptic  ones.  Though  five  or  six  are  said  to 
be  hyperbolic,  yet,  as  I  learn  from  one  who  has  paid  special 
attention  to  comets,  "  no  such  orbit  has,  I  believe,  been 
computed  for  a  well-observed  comet."  Hence  the  proba- 
bility that  all  the  orbits  are  ellipses  is  overwhelming. 
Ellipses  and  hyperbolas  have  countless  varieties  of  forms, 
but  there  is  only  one  form  of  parabola;  or,  to  speak  literally, 
all  parabolas  are  similar,  while  there  are  infinitely  numerous 
dissimilar  ellipses  and  dissimilar  hyperbolas.  Consequently, 
anything  coming  to  the  Sun  from  a  great  distance  must  have 
one  exact  amount  of  proper  motion  to  produce  a  parabola : 
all  other  amounts  would  give  hyperbolas  or  ellipses.  And 
if  there  are  no  hyperbolic  orbits,  then  it  is  infinity  to  one 
that  all  the  orbits  are  elliptical.  This  is  just  what  they 
would  be  if  comets  had  the  genesis  above  supposed. 

And  now,  leaving  these  erratic  bodies,  let  us  turn  to  the 
more  familiar  and  important  members  of  the  Solar  System. 
It  was  the  remarkable  harmony  among  their  movements 
which  first  made  Laplace  conceive  that  the  Sun,  planets, 
and  satellites  had  resulted  from  a  common  genetic  process. 


TnE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  ]  29 

As  Sir  William  Herscliel,  by  liis  observations  on  the  nebulae, 
was  led  to  the  conclusion  that  stars  resulted  from  the 
aggregation  of  diffused  matter ;  so  Laplace,  by  his  obser- 
vations on  the  structure  of  the  Solar  System,  ivas  led  to 
the  conclusion  that  only  by  the  rotation  of  aggregating 
matter  were  its  peculiarities  to  be  explained.  In  his 
Exposition  du  Systeme  du  Monde,  he  enumerates  as  the 
leading  evidences: — 1.  The  movements  of  the  planets  in  the 
same  direction  and  in  orbits  approaching  to  the  same 
plane ;  2.  The  movements  of  the  satellites  in  the  same 
direction  as  those  of  the  planets ;  3.  The  movements  of 
rotation  of  these  various  bodies  and  of  the  sun  in  the  same 
direction  as  the  orbital  motions,  and  mostly  in  planes 
little  different ;  4.  The  small  eccentricities  of  the  orbits  of 
the  planets  and  satellites,  as  contrasted  with  the  great 
eccentricities  of  the  cometary  orbits.  And  the  probability 
that  these  harmonious  movements  had  a  common  cause,  he 
calculates  as  two  hundred  thousand  billions  to  one. 

This  immense  preponderance  of  probability  does  not 
point  to  a  common  cause  under  the  form  ordinarily  con- 
ceived— an  Invisible  Power  working  after  the  method  of 
"  a  Great  Artificer ;  ^'  but  to  an  Invisible  Power  working 
after  the  method  of  evolution.  For  though  the  supporters 
of  the  common  hypothesis  may  argue  that  it  was  necessary 
for  the  sake  of  stability  that  the  planets  should  go  round 
the  Sun  in  the  same  direction  and  nearly  in  one  plane,  they 
cannot  thus  account  for  the  direction  of  the  axial  motions.* 
The  mechanical  equilibrium  would  not  have  been  intei'fered 
with,  had  the  Sun  been  without  any  rotatoiy  moveraeiit ; 
or  had  he  revolved  on  his  axis  in  a  direction  opposite  to 
that  in  which  the  planets  go  round  him ;  or  in  a  direction 
at  right  angles  to  the  average  plane  of  their  orbits.  With 
equal  safety  the  motion  of  the  Moon  round  the  Earth  might 

*  Though  tliis  rule  fails  at  the  periphery  of  the  Solar  System,  yet  it  fails 
only  where  the  axis  of  rotation,  instead  of  being  almost  perpendicular  to  the 
orbit-plane,  is  very  little  inclined  to  it ;  and  where,  therefore,  the  forces  tending 
tt)  produce  the  congruity  of  motions  were  but  little  operative. 


130  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  ^ 

liuve  been  the  reverse  of  the  Earth's  motion  round  its 
axis ;  or  the  motions  of  Jupiter's  satelhtes  might  similarly 
have  been  at  variance  with  his  axial  motion ;  or  those  of 
Saturn's  satellites  with  his.  As,  however,  none  of  these 
alternatives  have  been  followed,  the  uniformity  must  be 
considered,  in  this  case  as  in  all  others,  evidence  of  sub- 
ordination to  some  general  law — implies  what  we  call  natural 
causation,  as  distinguished  from  arbitrary  arrangement. 

Hence  the  hypothesis  of  evolution  would  be  the  only 
probable  one,  even  in  the  absence  of  any  clue  to  the  par- 
ticular mode  of  evolution.  But  when  we  have,  propounded 
by  a  mathematician  of  the  highest  authority,  a  theory  of 
this  evolution  based  on  established  mechanical  principles, 
which  accounts  for  these  various  peculiarities,  as  well  as 
for  many  minor  ones,  the  conclusion  that  the  Solar  System 
was  evolved  becomes  almost  irresistible. 

The  general  nature  of  Laplace's  theory  scarcely  needs 
etating.  Books  of  popular  astronomy  have  familiarized 
most  readers  with  his  conceptions; — namely,  that  the  matter 
now  condensed  into  the  Solar  System,  once  formed  a  vast 
rotating  spheroid  of  extreme  rarity  extending  beyond  the 
orbit  of  the  outermost  planet ;  that  as  this  spheroid  con- 
tracted, its  rate  of  rotation  necessarily  increased ;  that  by 
augmenting  centrifugal  force  its  equatorial  zone  was  from 
time  to  time  prevented  from  following  any  further  the 
concentrating  mass,  and  so  remained  behind  as  a  revolving 
ring ;  that  each  of  the  revolving  rings  thus  periodically 
detached,  eventually  became  ruptured  at  its  weakest  point, 
and,  contracting  on  itself,  gradually  aggregated  into  a 
rotating  mass ;  that  this,  like  the  parent  mass,  increased  in 
rapidity  of  rotation  as  it  decreased  in  size,  and,  where  the 
centrifugal  force  was  sufficient,  similarly  left  behind  rings, 
which  finally  collapsed  into  rotating  spheroids ;  and  that 
thus,  out  of  these  primary  and  secondary  rings,  there  arose 
planets  and  their  satellites,  while  from  the  central  mass 
there  resulted   the   Sun.     Moreover,  it  is   tolerably   well 


THE   NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS,  131 

known  tbat  this  a  priori  reasoning  harmonizes  with  the 
results  of  experiment.  Dr.  Plateau  has  shown  that  when 
a  mass  of  fluid  is,  as  far  may  be,  protected  from  the  action 
of  external  forces,  it  will,  if  made  to  rotate  with  adequate 
velocity,  form  detached  rings;  and  that  these  rings  will 
break  up  into  spheroids  which  turn  on  their  axes  in  tho 
same  direction  with  the  central  mass.  Thus,  given  the 
original  nebula,  which,  acquiring  a  vortical  motion  in  the 
way  indicated,  has  at  length  concentrated  into  a  vast 
spheroid  of  aeriform  matter  moving  round  its  axis — given 
this,  and  mechanical  principles  explain  the  rest.  The 
genesis  of  a  Solar  System  displaying  movements  like  those 
observed,  may  be  predicted ;  and  the  reasoning  on  which 
the  prediction  is  based  is  countenanced  by  experiment.* 

But  now  let  us  inquire  whether,  "besides  these  most  con- 
spicuous structural  and  dynamic  peculiarities  of  the  Solar 
System,  sundry  minor  ones  are  not  similarly  explicable. 

Take  first  the  relation  between  the  planes  of  the  planetary 
orbits  and  the  plane  of  the  Sun's  equator.  If,  when  the 
nebulous  spheroid  extended  beyond  the  orbit  of  Neptune, 
all  parts  of  it  had  been  revolving  exactly  in  the  same  plane, 
or  rather  in  parallel  planes — if  all  its  parts  had  had  one 
axis ;  then  the  planes  of  the  successive  rings  would  have 

•  It  is  true  that,  as  expressed  by  him,  these  propositions  of  Laplace  are 
not  all  beyond  dispute.  An  astronomer  of  the  highest  authority,  who  hag 
favoured  me  with  some  criticisms  on  this  essay,  alleges  that  instead  of  a 
nebulous  ring  rupturing  at  one  point,  and  collapsing  into  a  single  mass, 
"  all  probability  would  be  in  favour  of  its  breaking  up  into  many  masses.' 
This  alternative  result  certainly  seems  the  more  likely.  But  granting  that 
a  nebulous  ring  would  break  up  into  many  masses,  it  may  still  be  contended 
that,  since  the  chances  are  infinity  to  one  against  these  being  of  equal  sizes 
and  equidistant,  they  could  not  remain  evenly  distributed  round  their  orbit. 
This  annular  chain  of  gaseous  masses  would  break  up  into  groups  of  masses ; 
these  groups  would  eventually  aggregate  into  larger  groups ;  and  the  final 
result  would  be  the  formation  of  a  single  mass.  I  have  put  the  question  to 
an  astronomer  scarcely  second  in  authority  to  the  one  above  referred  to,  and 
he  agrees  that  this  would  probably  be  the  process. 


132  THE    NEEULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

been  coincident  with  eacli  otter  and  witli  tliat  of  the  Sun*a 
rotation.  But  it  needs  only  to  go  back  to  the  earlier  stages 
of  concentration,  to  see  that  there  could  exist  no  such  com- 
plete uniformity  of  motion.  The  flocculi,  already  described 
as  precipitated  from  an  irregular  and  widely-diffused  nebula, 
and  as  starting  from  all  points  to  their  common  centre  of 
gravity,  must  move  not  in  one  plane  but  in  innumerable 
planes,  cutting  each  other  at  all  angles.  The  gradual 
establishment  of  a  vortical  motion  such  as  we  at  present 
see  indicated  in  the  spiral  nebulae,  is  the  gradual  approach 
towards  motion  in  one  plane.  But  this  plane  can  but 
slowly  become  decided.  Flocculi  not  moving  in  this  plane, 
but  entering  into  the  aggregation  at  various  inclinations, 
will  tend  to  perform  their  revolutions  round  its  centre  in 
their  own  planes  ;  and  only  in  course  of  time  will  their 
motions  be  partly  destroyed  by  conflicting  ones,  and  partly 
resolved  into  the  general  motion.  Especially  will  the 
outermost  portions  of  the  rotating  mass  retain  for  a  long 
time  their  more  or  less  independent  directions.  Hence 
the  probahilities  are,  that  the  planes  of  the  rings  first 
detached  will  differ  considerably  from  the  average  plane 
of  the  mass ;  while  the  planes  of  those  detached  latest 
will  differ  from  it  less. 

Here,  again,  inference  to  a  considerable  extent  agrees 
with  observation.  Though  the  progression  is  irregular,  yet, 
on  the  average,  the  inclinations  decrease  on  approaching  tho 
Sun  ;  and  this  is  all  we  can  expect.  For  as  the  portions  of 
the  nebulous  spheroid  must  have  arrived  with  miscellaneous 
inclinations,  its  strata  must  have  had  planes  of  rotation 
diverging  from  the  average  plane  in  degrees  not  always 
proportionate  to  their  distances  from  the  centre. 

Consider  next  the  movements  of  the  planets  on  their 
axes.  Laplace  alleged  as  one  among  other  evidences  of 
a  common  genetic  cause,  that  the  planets  rotate  in  a  direc- 
tion the  same  as  tliat  in  which  they  go  round  the  ;Sun,  and 


THE    NEDDLAR   HYPOTHESIS.  lo3 

on  axes  approximately  perpendicular  to  tlicir  orbits.  Sinco 
he  wrote,  an  exception  to  this  general  rule  has  been  discov- 
ered in  the  case  of  Uranus,  and  another  still  more  recently 
in  the  case  of  Neptune — judging,  at  least,  from  the  motions 
of  their  respective  satellites.  This  anomaly  has  been 
thought  to  throw  considerable  doubt  on  his  speculation; 
and  at  first  sight  it  does  so.  But  a  little  reflection  shows 
that  the  anomaly  is  not  inexplicable,  and  that  LaplaCe  simply 
Avcnt  too  far  in  putting  down  as  a  certain  result  of  nebular 
genesis,  what  is,  in  some  instances,  only  a  probable  result. 
The  cause  he  pointed  out  as  determining  the  direction  of 
rotation,  is  the  greater  absolute  velocity  of  the  outer  part  of 
the  detached  ring.  But  there  are  conditions  under  which 
this  diS'erence  of  velocity  may  be  too  insignificant,  even  if 
it  exists.  If  a  mass  of  nebulous  matter  approaching  spirally 
to  the  central  spheroid,  and  eventually  joining  it  tangentially, 
is  made  up  of  parts  having  the  same  absolute  velocities ; 
then,  after  joining  the  equatorial  periphery  of  the  spheroid 
and  being  made  to  rotate  with  it,  the  angular  velocity  of 
its  outer  parts  will  be  smaller  than  the  angular  velocity  of 
its  inner  parts.  Hence,  if,  when  the  angular  velocities  of 
the  outer  and  inner  parts  of  a  detached  ring  are  the  same, 
there  results  a  tendency  to  rotation  in  the  same  direction 
with  the  orbital  motion,  it  may  be  inferred  that  when  the 
outer  parts  of  the  ring  have  a  smaller  angular  velocity 
than  the  inner  parts,  a  tendency  to  retrograde  rotation  will 
be  the  consequence. 

Again,  the  sectional  form  of  the  ring  is  a  circumstaueo 
of  moment ;  and  this  form  must  have  differed  more  or  less 
in  every  case.  To  make  this  clear,  some  illustration  will  bo 
necessary.  Suppose  we  take  an  orange,  and,  assuming  tho 
marks  of  the  stalk  and  the  calyx  to  represent  tho  poles, 
cut  off  round  the  line  of  the  equator  a  strip  of  peel.  Thia 
strip  of  peel,  if  placed  on  the  table  with  its  ends  meeting, 
will  make  a  ring  shaped  like  the  hoop  of  a  barrel — a  ring 
of  which  tho  thickness  iu  the  line  of  its  diameter  is  very 


134  THE   NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS. 

small,  but  of  whicli  the  width  in  a  direction  perpendicular 
to  its  diameter  is  considerable.  Suppose,  now,  that  in 
place  of  an  orange,  which  is  a  spheroid  of  very  slight 
oblateness,  we  take  a  spheroid  of  very  great  oblateness, 
shaped  somewhat  like  a  lens  of  small  convexity.  If  from 
the  edge  or  equator  of  this  lens-shaped  spheroid,  a  ring  of 
moderate  size  were  cut  off,  it  would  be  unlike  the  previous 
ring  in  this  respect,  that  its  greatest  thickness  would  be  in 
the  line  of  its  diameter,  and  not  in  a  line  at  right  angles 
to  its  diameter  :  it  would  be  a  ring  shaped  somewhat  like 
a  quoit,  only  far  more  slender.  That  is  to  say,  according 
to  the  oblateness  of  a  rotating  spheroid,  the  detached  ring 
may  be  either  a  hoop-shaped  ring  or  a  quoit-shaped  ring. 

One  further  implication  must  be  noted.  In  a  much- 
flattened  or  lens-shaped  spheroid,  the  form  of  the  ring  will 
vary  with  its  bulk.  A  very  slender  ring,  taking  off  just 
the  equatorial  surface,  will  be  hoop-shaped ;  while  a  toler- 
ably massive  ring,  trenching  appreciably  on  the  diameter 
of  the  spheroid,  will  be  quoit-shaped.  Thus,  then,  according 
to  the  oblateness  of  the  spheroid  and  the  bulkiness  of  the 
detached  ring,  will  the  greatest  thickness  of  that  ring  be 
in  the  direction  of  its  plane,  or  in  a  direction  perpendicular 
to  its  plane.  But  this  circumstance  must  greatly  affect  the 
rotation  of  the  resulting  planet.  In  a  decidedly  hoop- 
shaped  nebulous  ring,  the  differences  of  velocity  between 
the  inner  and  outer  surfaces  will  be  small ;  and  such  a  ring, 
aggregating  into  a  mass  of  which  the  greatest  diameter  is 
at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  orbit,  will  almost  cer- 
tainly give  to  this  mass  a  predominant  tendency  to  rotate 
in  a  direction  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  orbit. 
"Where  the  ring  is  but  little  hoop-shaped,  and  the  difference 
between  the  inner  and  outer  velocities  greater,  as  it  must 
be,  the  opposing  tendencies — one  to  produce  rotation  in  the 
plane  of  the  orbit,  and  the  other,  rotation  perpendicular  to 
it — will  both  be  influential;  and  an  intermediate  plane  of 
rotation  will  be  taken  up.  While,  if  the  nebulons  ring  is 
clecidedly    quoit-shaised.   and   therefore  aggregates  into  a 


TEE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  135 

mass  whose  greatest  dimension  lies  in  the  plane  of  the 
orbit,  both  tendencies  will  conspire  to  produce  rotation  in 
that  plane. 

On  referring  to  the   facts,  we  find  them,  as  far  as  can 
be  judged,  in  harmony  with  this  view.     Considering  the 
enormous  circumference    of    Uranus's    orbit,  and  his  com- 
paratively small  mass,  we  may  conclude  that  the  ring  from 
which  he  resulted  was  a  comparatively  slender,  and  there- 
fore a  hoop-sliaped  one  :   especially  as  the  nebulous  mass 
must  have  been  at  that  time  less  oblate  than  afterwards. 
Hence,  a  plane  of  rotation   nearly   perpendicular   to    his 
orbit,  and  a  direction  of  rotation  having  no  reference  to 
his  orbital  movement.     Saturn  has  a  mass  seven  times  as 
great,  and  an  orbit  of  less  than  half  the  diameter ;  whence 
it  follows  that  his  genetic  ring,  having  less  than  half  the 
circumference,  and  less    than   half  the  vertical  thickness 
(the  spheroid  being  then  certainly  as  oblate,  and  indeed 
more  oblate),  must  have  had  a  much  greater  width — must 
have   been    less    hoop-shaped,    and   more    approaching   to 
the  quoit-shaped  :  notwithstanding  difPerence  of  density,  it 
must  have  been  at  least  two  or  three  times  as  broad  in  the 
line  of  its  plane.     Consequently,    Saturn    has   a    rotatory 
movement   in   the    same    direction    as    the    movement    of 
translation,  and   in    a   plane    differing   from   it    by  thirty 
degrees  only.     In  the  case  of  Jupiter,  again,  whose  mass  is 
three  and  a  half  times  that  of   Saturn,  and  whose   orhib 
is  little  more  than  half  the  size,  the  genetic  ring  must,  for 
the  like  reasons,  have  been  still  broader — decidedly  quoit- 
shaped,  we  may   say ;    and  there  hence  resulted   a  planet 
whose  plane  of  rotation  differs  from  that  of  his  orbit  by 
scarcely  more  than  three  degrees.     Once  more,  considering 
the  comparative  insignificance  of  Mars,  Earth,  Venus,  and 
Mercury,  it  follows  that,  the  diminishing  circumferences  of 
the  rings  not  sufficing  to  account  for  the  smallness  of  the 
resulting  masses,  the  rings  must  have  been  slender  ones- 
must  have  again  approximated    to  the  hoop-shaped;  and 
thus  it  happens  that  the  planes  of  rotation  again  diverge 


136  THE   NEBULAE   HYPOTHESIS. 

more  or  less  widely  from  tliose  of  tlie  orbits.  Taking  inio 
account  the  increasing  oblateness  of  the  original  spheroid 
in  the  successive  stages  of  its  concentration^  and  the  differe?it 
proportions  of  the  detached  rings,  it  may  fairly  be  held 
that  the  respective  rotatory  motions  are  not  at  variance 
with  the  hypothesis  but  contrariwise  tend  to  confirm  it. 

Not  only  the  directions,  but  also  the  velocities  of  rota- 
tion seem  thus  explicable.  It  might  naturally  be  supposed 
that  the  large  planets  would  revolve  on  their  axes  more 
slowly  than  the  small  ones  :  our  terrestrial  experiences  of 
big  and  little  bodies  incline  us  to  expect  this.  It  is  a 
corollary  from  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  however,  more 
especially  when  interpreted  as  above,  that  while  large 
planets  will  rotate  rapidly,  small  ones  will  rotate  slowly ; 
and  we  find  that  in  fact  they  do  so.  Other  things  equal,  a 
concentrating  nebulous  mass  which  is  dififused  through  a 
wide  space,  and  whose  outer  parts  have,  therefore,  to  travel 
from  great  distances  to  the  common  centre  of  gravity, 
will  acquire  a  high  axial  velocity  in  course  of  its  aggre- 
gation ;  and  conversely  with  a  small  mass.  Still  more 
marked  will  be  the  difference  where  the  form  of  the 
genetic  ring  conspires  to  increase  the  rate  of  rotation. 
Other  things  equal,  a  genetic  ring  which  is  broadest  in  the 
direction  of  its  plane  will  produce  a  mass  rotating  faster 
than  one  which  is  broadest  at  right  angles  to  its  plane ; 
and  if  the  ring  is  absolutely  as  well  as  relatively  broad, 
the  rotation  will  be  very  rapid.  These  conditions  were,  as 
we  saw,  fulfilled  in  the  case  of  Jupiter ;  and  Jupiter  turns 
round  hi«  axis  in  less  than  ten  hours.  Saturn,  in  whoso 
case,  as  above  explained,  the  conditions  were  loss  favour- 
able to  rapid  rotation,  takes  nearly  ten  hours  and  a  half. 
While  Mars,  Earth,  Venus,  and  Mercury,  whose  rings  must 
have  been  slender,  take  more  than  double  that  time  :  the 
smallest  taking  the  longest. 

From   the   planets   let  us   now   pass   to   the   satellites. 
Ilere,  beyond  the   conspicuous  facts    commonly    adverted 


THE   NEBULAE  HYPOTHESIS.  137 

to,  that  they  go  round  their  primaries  in  the  directions 
in  which  these  turn  on  their  axes,  in  planes  diverging 
Lut  little  from  their  equators,  and  in  orbits  nearly  circular, 
there  are  several  significant  traits  which  must  not  be 
passed  over. 

One  of  them  is  that  each  set  of  satellites  repeats  in 
miniature  the  relations  of  the  planets  to  the  Sun,  both  in 
certain  respects  above  named  and  in  the  order  of  their  sizes. 
On  progressing  from  the  outside  of  the  Solar  System  to  its 
centre,  we  see  that  there  are  four  large  external  planets, 
and  four  internal  ones  which  are  comparatively  small.  A 
like  contrast  holds  between  the  outer  and  inner  satellites 
in  every  case.  Among  the  four  satellites  of  Jupiter,  the 
parallel  is  maintained  as  well  as  the  comparative  smallness 
of  the  number  allows  :  the  two  outer  ones  are  the  largest, 
and  the  two  inner  ones  the  smallest.  According  to  the 
most  recent  observations  made  by  Mr.  Lassell,  the  like  is 
true  of  the  four  satellites  of  Uranus.  In  the  case  of 
Saturn,  who  has  eight  secondary  planets  revolving  round 
him,  the  likeness  is  still  more  close  in  arrangement  as  in 
number :  the  three  outer  satellites  are  large,  the  inner  ones 
small;  and  the  contrasts  of  size  are  here  much  greater 
between  the  largest,  which  is  nearly  as  big  as  Mars,  and 
the  smallest,  which  is  with  difficulty  discovered  even  by 
the  best  telescopes.  But  the  analogy  does  not  end  here. 
Just  as  with  the  planets,  there  is  at  first  a  general 
increase  of  size  on  travelling  inwards  from  Neptune  and 
Uranus,  which  do  not  differ  very  widely,  to  Saturn,  which 
is  much  larger,  and  to  Jupiter,  which  is  the  largest ;  so  of 
the  eight  satellites  of  Saturn,  the  largest  is  not  the  outer- 
most, but  the  outermost  save  twb ;  so  of  Jupiter's  four 
secondaries,  the  largest  is  the  most  remote  but  one.  Now 
these  parallelisms  are  inexplicable  by  the  theory  of  final 
causes.  For  pm-poses  of  lighting,  if  this  be  the  presumed 
object  of  these  attendant  bodies,  it  would  have  been  far 
better  had  the  larger  been  the  nearer  :  at  present,  their 
remoteness  renders  them  of  less  service  than  the  smallest. 


138  THE    NEPULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

To  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  however,  these  analogies  give 
further  support.  They  show  the  action  of  a  common 
physical  cause.  They  imply  a  law  of  genesis,  holding  in 
the  secondary  systems  as  in  the  primary  system. 

Still  more  instructive  shall  we  find  the  distribution  of 
the  satellites — their  absence  in  some  instances,  and  their 
presence  in  other  instances,  in  smaller  or  greater  numbers. 
The  argument  from  design  fails  to  account  for  this  distri- 
bution. Supposing  it  be  granted  that  planets  nearer  the 
Sun  than  ourselves,  have  no  need  of  moons  (though,  con- 
sidering that  their  nights  are  as  dark,  and,  relatively  to 
their  brilliant  days,  even  darker  than  ours,  the  need  seems 
quite  as  great) — supposing  this  to  be  granted;  how  are  we 
to  explain  the  fact  that  Uranus  has  but  half  as  many 
moons  as  Saturn,  though  he  is  at  double  the  distance  ? 
While,  however,  the  current  presumption  is  untenable, 
the  Nebular  Hypothesis  furnishes  us  with  an  explana- 
tion. It  enables  us  to  predict  where  satellites  will  be 
abundant  and  where  they  will  be  absent.  The  reasoning  is 
as  follows. 

In  a  rotating  nebulous  spheroid  which  is  concentrating 
into  a  planet,  there  are  at  work  two  antagonist  mechanical 
tendencies — the  centripetal  and  the  centrifugal.  While 
the  force  of  gravitation  draws  all  the  atoms  of  the  spheroid 
together,  their  tangential  momentum  is  resolvable  into  two 
parts,  of  which  one  resists  gravitation.  The  ratio  which 
this  centrifugal  force  bears  to  gravitation,  varies,  other 
things  equal,  as  the  square  of  the  velocity.  Hence,  the 
aggregation  of  a  rotating  nebulous  spheroid  will  be  more 
or  less  hindered  by  this  resisthig  foi'ce,  according  as  the 
rate  of  rotation  is  high  or  low :  the  opposition,  in  equal 
spheroids,  being  four  times  as  great  wlien  the  rotation 
is  twice  as  rapid ;  nine  times  as  great  when  it  is  three 
times  as  rapid ;  and  so  on.  Now  the  detachment  of  a  ring 
from  a  planet-forming  body  of  nebulous  matter,  implies 


THE    NEBULAE    HYPOTHESIS. 


139 


that  at  its  equatorial  zone  the  increasing  centrifugal  force 
consequent  on  concentration  has  become  so  great  as  te 
balance  gravity.  Whence  it  is  tolerably  obvious  that  the 
detachment  of  rings  will  be  most  frequent  from  those 
masses  in  Avhich  the  centrifugal  tendency  bears  the  greatest 
ratio  to  the  gravitative  tendency.  Though  it  is  not  possible 
to  calculate  what  ratio  these  two  tendencies  had  to  each 
other  in  the  genetic  spheroid  which  produced  each  planet, 
it  is  possible  to  calculate  where  each  was  the  greatest 
and  where  the  least.  While  it  is  true  that  the  ratio  which 
centrifugal  force  now  bears  to  gravity  at  the  equator 
of  each  planet,  differs  widely  from  that  which  it  bore 
during  the  earlier  stages  of  concentration ;  and  while  it  is 
true  that  this  change  in  the  ratio,  depending  on  the  degree 
of  contraction  each  planet  has  undergone,  has  in  no  two 
cases  been  the  same ;  yet  we  may  fairly  conclude  that 
where  the  ratio  is  still  the  greatest,  it  has  been  the  greatest 
from  the  beginning.  The  satellite-forming  tendency  which 
each  planet  had,  will  be  approximately  indicated  by  the 
proportion  now  existing  in  it  between  the  aggregating 
power,  and  the  power  that  has  opposed  aggregation.  On 
making  the  requisite  calculations,  a  remarkable  harmony 
with  this  inference  comes  out.  The  following  table  shows 
what  fraction  the  centrifugal  force  is  of  the  centripetal  force 
in  every  case ;  and  the  relation  which  that  fraction  bears 
to  the  number  of  satellites.* 


Mercury.    Venus. 
1  1 


Earth, 
1 


Mars. 
1 


Jupiter. 
1 


Saturn. 
1 


Uranus. 
1 


3G0  253  289  127  11-4  Gi  10-9 

12  4  8  4 

Satellite.     Satellites.     Satellites.     Satellites,    Sato]lit<!s. 

and  three 
rings. 

Thus  taking  as  our  standard  of  comparison  the   Earth 

with  its  one  moon,   we    see  that    Mercury,  in  which   the 

centrifugal  force  is  relatively  less,  has  no  moon.     Mars,  in 

*  The  comparative  statement  here  given  diiTer?,  slightly  in  most  casei 


140  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

which  it  is  relatively  much  greater,  has  two  moons.  Jupiter^ 
in  which  it  is  far  greater,  has  four  moons.  Uranus,  in 
which  it  is  greater  still,  has  certainly  four,  and  more  if 
Herschel  was  right.  Saturn,  in  which  it  is  the  greatest, 
being  nearly  one-sixth  of  gravity,  has,  including  his  rings, 
eleven  attendants.  The  only  instance  in  which  there  is 
nonconformity  with  observation,  is  that  of  Venus.  Here 
it  appears  that  the  centrifugal  force  is  relatively  greater 
than  in  the  Earth;  and,  according  to  the  hypothesis, 
Venus  ought  to  have  a  satellite.  Respecting  this  anomaly 
several  remarks  are  to  be  made.  Without  putting  any 
faith  in  the  alleged  discovery  of  a  satellite  of  Venus 
(repeated  at  intervals  by  five  different  observers),  it  may 
yet  be  contended  that   as   the   satellites  of  Mars  eluded 

and  in  one  case  largely,  from  the  statement  included  in  this  essay  as 
originally  published  in  1858.    As  then  given  the  table  ran  thus  : — 


Mercury. 

Venus. 

1 

Earth. 

1 

Mars. 

1 

Jupiter, 

1 

Saturn. 
1 

Uranus. 

1 

ses 

282 

289 

1 

Satellite. 

326 

14 

4 
Satellites. 

6-2 

8 
Satellites, 
and  three 
rings. 

9 

4  (or  6  a<?- 
cording  to 
Herschel). 

The  calculations  ending  with  these  figures  were  made  while  the  Sun's 
distance  was  still  estimated  at  95  millions  of  miles.  Of  course  the  reduction 
afterwards  established  in  the  estimated  distance,  entailing,  as  it  did,  changes 
in  the  factors  which  entered  into  the  calculations,  affected  the  results ; 
and,  though  it  was  unlikely  that  the  relations  stated  would  be  materially 
changed,  it  was  needful  to  have  the  calculations  made  afresh.  Mr.  Lynn  has 
been  good  enough  to  undertake  this  task,  and  the  figures  given  in  the  text 
are  his.  In  the  case  of  Mars  a  large  error  in  my  calculation  had  arisen  from 
accepting  Arago's  statement  of  his  density  (0'95),  which  proves  to  be  some 
thing  like  double  what  it  should  be.  Here  a  curious  incident  may  be  named. 
Wiien,  in  1877,  it  was  discovered  that  Mars  has  two  satellites,  though, 
according  to  my  hypothesis,  it  seemed  that  he  should  have  none,  my  faith 
in  it  received  a  shock ;  and  since  that  time  I  have  occasionally  considered 
whether  the  fact  is  in  any  way  reconcilable  with  the  hypothesis.  But  now 
the  proof  afforded  by  Mr.  Lynn  that  my  calculation  contained  a  wrong  factor, 
disposes  of  the  difficulty — nay,  changes  the  objection  to  a  verification.  It 
turns  out  that,  according  to  the  hypothesis.  Mars  ought  to  have  satellites ; 
and,  further,  that  he  ought  to  have  a  number  intermediate  between  1  and  4. 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  141 

observation  up  to  1877,  a  satellite  of  Venus  may  have 
eluded  observation  up  to  the  present  time.  Merely  naming 
this  as  possible,  but  not  probable,  a  consideration  of  more 
weight  is  that  the  period  of  rotation  of  Venus  is  but 
indefinitely  fixed,  and  that  a  small  diminution  in  the 
estimated  angular  velocity  of  her  equator  would  bring  the 
result  into  congruity  with  the  hypothesis.  Further,  it  may 
be  remarked  that  not  exact,  but  only  general,  congruity  is 
to  be  expected ;  since  the  process  of  condensation  of  each 
planet  from  nebulous  matter  can  scarcely  be  expected  to 
have  gone  on  with  absolute  uniformity :  the  angular 
velocities  of  the  superposed  strata  of  nebulous  matter 
probably  differed  from  one  another  in  degrees  unlike 
in  each  case;  and  such  differences  would  affect  the  satellite- 
forming  tendency.  But  without  making  much  of  these 
possible  explanations  of  the  discrepancy,  the  correspondence 
between  inference  and  fact  which  we  find  in  so  many 
planets,  may  be  held  to  afford  strong  support  to  the 
Nebular  Hypothesis. 

Certain  more  special  peculiarities  of  the  satellites  must 
be  mentioned  as  suggestive.  One  of  them  is  the  relation 
between  the  period  of  revolution  and  that  of  rotation. 
No  discoverable  purpose  is  served  by  making  the  Moon  go 
round  its  axis  in  the  same  time  that  it  goes  round  the 
Earth :  for  our  convenience,  a  more  rapid  axial  motion 
would  have  been  equally  good ;  and  for  any  possible  inhab- 
itants of  the  Moon,  much  better.  Against  the  alternative 
supposition,  that  the  equality  occurred  by  accident,  the 
]>robabilities  are,  as  Laplace  says,  infinity  to  one.  But  to 
this  arrangement,  which  is  explicable  neither  as  the  result 
of  design  nor  of  chance,  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  furnishes 
a  clue.  In  his  Ei:posltion  chi  Systemc.  da  Monde,  Laplace 
shows,  by  reasoning  too  detailed  to  be  here  repeated,  that 
under  the  circumstances  such  a  relation  of  movements 
would  be  likely  to  establish  itself. 

Among  Jupiter's  satellites,  which  severally  display  those 


142  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

same  synchronous  movements,  there  also  exists  a  still  more 
remarkable  relation.  "If  the  mean  angular  velocity  of  the 
first  satellite  be  added  to  twice  that  of  the  third,  the  sura 
will  be  equal  to  three  times  that  of  the  second ; "  and 
"  from  this  it  results  that  the  situations  of  any  two  of  them 
being  given,  that  of  the  third  can  be  found."  Now  here,  as 
before,  no  conceivable  advantage  results.  Neither  in  this 
case  can  the  connexion  have  been  accidental:  the  proba- 
bilities are  infinity  to  one  to  the  contrary.  But  again, 
according  to  Laplace,  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  supplies  a 
solution.     Are  not  these  significant  facts  ? 

Most  significant  fact  of  all,  however,  is  that  presented 
by  the  rings  of  Saturn.  As  Laplace  remarks,  they  are,  as 
it  were,  still  extant  witnesses  of  the  genetic  process  he 
propounded.  Here  we  have,  continuing  permanently, 
forms  of  aggregation  like  those  through  which  each  planet 
and  satellite  once  passed  ;  and  their  movements  are  just 
what,  in  conformity  with  the  hypothesis,  they  should  be. 
"  La  duree  de  la  rotation  d'une  planete  doit  done  etre, 
d'apres  cette  hypothese,  plus  petite  que  la  duree  de  la 
revolution  du  corps  le  plus  voisin  qui  circule  autour  d'elle," 
says  Laplace.  And  he  then  points  out  that  the  time  of 
Saturn's  rotation  is  to  that  of  his  rings  as  427  to  438 — an 
amount  of  difference  such  as  was  to  be  expected.* 

Respecting  Saturn's  rings  it  may  be  further  remarked 
tlxat  the  place  of  their  occurrence  is  not  without  significance. 

*  Since  this  paragraph  was  first  published,  the  discovery  that  Mars  has 
two  satellites  revolving  round  him  in  periods  shorter  than  that  of  his  rotation, 
has  shown  that  the  implication  on  which  Laplace  here  insists  is  general 
only,  and  not  absolute.  Were  it  a  necessary  assumption  that  all  parts  of  a 
concentrating  nebulous  spheroid  revolve  with  the  same  angular  velocities, 
the  exception  would  apix-ar  an  inexplicable  one ;  but  if,  as  suggested  in  a 
preceding  section,  it  is  inferable  from  the  process  of  formation  of  a  nebulous 
spheroid,  that  its  outer  strata  will  move  round  the  general  axis  with  higher 
angular  velocities  than  the  inner  ones,  there  follows  a  possible  interpretation. 
Though,  during  the  earlier  stages  of  concentration,  while  the  nebulous 
matter,  and  especially  its  peripheral  portions,  are  very  rare,  the  effects  of 
fluid-friction  will  be  too  small  to  change  greatly  such  differences  of  angular 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  143 

Kings  detached  early  in  the  process  of  concentration,  con- 
sisting of  gaseous  matter  having  extremely  little  power  of 
cohesion,  can  have  little  ability  to  resist  the  disruptive 
forces  due  to  imperfect  balance ;  and,  therefore,  collapse 
into  satellites.  A  ring  of  a  denser  kind,  whether  solid, 
liquid,  or  composed  of  small  discrete  masses  (as  Saturn's 
rings  are  now  concluded  to  be),  we  can  expect  will  be  formed 
only  near  the  body  of  a  planet  when  it  has  reached  so 
late  a  stage  of  concentration  that  its  equatorial  portions 
contain  matters  capable  of  easy  precipitation  into  liquid 
and,  finally,  solid  forms.  Even  then  it  can  be  produced 
only  under  special  conditions.  Gaining  a  rapidly-increasing 
preponderance  as  the  gravitative  force  does  during  tho 
closing  stages  of  concentration,  the  centrifugal  force  cannot, 
in  ordinary  cases,  cause  the  leaving  behind  of  rings  when 
the  mass  has  become  dense.  Only  where  the  centrifugal 
force  has  all  along  been  very  great,  and  remains  powerful 
to  tho  last,  as  in  Saturn,  can  we  expect  dense  rings  to 
be  formed. 

We  find,  then,  that  besides  those  most  conspicuous  pecu- 
liarities of  the  Solar  System  which  first  suggested  the  theory 
of  its  evolution,  there  are  many  minor  ones  pointing  in 
the  same  direction.  Were  there  no  other  evidence,  these 
mechanical  arrangements  would,  considered  in  their  totality, 
go  far  to  establish  the  Nebular  Hypothesis. 

From  the  mechanical  arrangements  of  the  Solar  System, 
turn  we  now  to  its  physical  characters ;  and,  first,  let  us  con- 
sider the  inferences  deducible  from  relative  specific  gravities, 
velocities  as  exist ;  yet,  when  concentration  has  reached  its  last  stages,  and 
the  matter  is  passing  from  the  gaseous  into  the  liquid  and  solid  states,  and 
when  also  the  convection-currents  have  become  common  to  the  whole  mass 
(which  they  probably  at  first  are  not),  the  angular  velocity  of  the  peripheral 
portion  will  gradually  be  assimilated  to  that  of  the  interior ;  and  it  becomes 
comprehensible  that  in  the  case  of  Mars  the  peripheral  portion,  more  and 
more  dragged  back  by  the  internal  mass,  lost  part  of  its  velocity  during  tlie 
interval  between  the  formation  of  the  innermost  satellite  aud  the  arrival  at 
the  final  form. 


144  THE   NEBULAE   HYPOTHESIS. 

The  fact  that,  speaking  generally,  the  denser  planets  are 
the  nearer  to  the  Sun,  has  been  by  some  considered  as 
adding  another  to  the  many  indications  of  nebular  origin. 
Legitimately  assuming  that  the  outermost  parts  of  a  rotating 
nebulous  spheroid,  in  its  earlier  stages  of  concentration, 
must  be  comparatively  rai^e;  and  that  the  increasing  density 
which  the  whole  mass  acquires  as  it  contracts,  must  hold 
of  the  outermost  parts  as  well  as  the  rest;  it  is  argued 
that  the  rings  successively  detached  will  be  more  and  more 
dense,  and  will  form  planets  of  higher  and  higher  specific 
gravities.  But  passing  over  other  objections,  this  explana- 
tion is  quite  inadequate  to  account  for  the  facts.  Using 
the  Earth  as  a  standard  of  comparison,  the  relative  densities 
run  thus : — 

Neptune.   Uranus.   Saturn.   Jupiter.   Mars.  Earth.   Venus.   Mercury.   Sun. 
017  0-25         Oil  0-23       045       1-00        092  1-26        025 

Two  insurmountable  objections  are  presented  by  this 
series.  The  first  is,  that  the  progression  is  but  a  broken 
one.  Neptune  is  denser  than  Saturn,  which,  by  the  hypo- 
thesis, it  ought  not  to  be.  Uranus  is  denser  than  Jupiter, 
which  it  ought  not  to  be.  Uranus  is  denser  than  Saturn, 
and  the  Earth  is  denser  than  Venus — facts  which  not  only 
give  no  countenance  to,  but  directly  contradict,  the  alleged 
explanation.  The  second  objection,  still  more  manifestly 
fatal,  is  the  low  specific  gravity  of  the  Sun.  If,  when  the 
matter  of  the  Sun  filled  the  orbit  of  Mercury,  its  state  of 
aggregation  was  such  that  the  detached  ring  formed  a 
planet  having  a  specific  gravity  equal  to  that  of  iron ;  then 
the  Sun  itself,  now  that  it  has  concentrated,  should  have  a 
specific  gravity  much  greater  than  that  of  iron ;  whereas 
its  specidc  gravity  is  only  half  as  much  again  as  that  of 
water.  Instead  of  being  far  denser  than  the  nearest 
planet,  it  is  but  one-fifth  as  dense. 

While  these  anomalies  render  untenable  the  position  that 
the  relative  specific  gravities  of  the  planets  are  direct  indi- 
cations of  nebular  condensation ;  it  by  no  means  follows 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  145 

that  they  negative  it.  Several  causes  may  be  assisfned  for 
these  unlikenesses : — 1.  Differences  among  the  planets  in 
respect  of  the  elementary  substances  composing  them ;  ov 
in  the  proportions  of  such  elementary  substances,  if  they 
contain  the  same  kinds.  2.  Differences  among  them  in 
respect  of  the  quantities  of  matter  they  contain  ;  for,  other 
things  equal,  the  mutual  gravitation  of  molecules  will  make 
a  larger  mass  denser  than  a  smaller.  3.  Differences  of 
temperatures;  for,  other  things  equal,  those  having  higher 
temperatures  will  have  lower  specific  gravities.  4.  Differ- 
ences of  physical  states,  as  being  gaseous,  liquid,  or  solid ; 
or,  otherwise,  differences  in  the  relative  amounts  of  the 
solid,  liquid,  and  gaseous  matter  they  contain. 

It  is  quite  possible,  and  we  may  indeed  say  probable, 
that  all  these  causes  come  into  play,  and  that  they  take 
various  shares  in  the  production  of  the  several  results.  But 
difficulties  stand  in  the  way  of  definite  conclusions.  Never- 
theless, if  we  revert  to  the  hypothesis  of  nebular  genesis, 
we  are  furnished  with  partial  explanations  if  nothing  more. 

In  the  cooling  of  celestial  bodies  several  factors  are 
concerned.  The  first  and  simplest  is  the  one  illustrated  at 
every  fire-side  by  the  rapid  blackening  of  little  cinders  which 
fall  into  the  ashes,  in  contrast  with  the  long-continued 
redness  of  big  lumps.  This  factor  is  the  relation  between 
increase  of  surface  and  increase  of  content :  surfaces,  in 
similar  bodies,  increasing  as  the  squares  of  the  dimensions 
while  contents  increase  as  their  cubes.  Hence,  on  com- 
paring the  Earth  with  Jupiter,  whose  diameter  is  about 
eleven  times  that  of  the  Earth,  it  results  that  while  his 
surface  is  125  times  as  great,  his  content  is  1390  times  as 
great.  Now  even  (supposing  we  assume  like  temperatures 
and  like  densities)  if  the  only  effect  were  that  through  a 
given  area  of  surface  eleven  times  more  matter  had  to  bo 
cooled  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other,  there  would  be  a 
vast  difference  between  the  times  occupied  in  concentration. 
But,  in  virtue  of  a  second  factor,  the  difference  would  be 


146  THE   NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS. 

much  greater  than  that  consequent  on  these  geometrical 
relations.  The  escape  of  heat  from  a  cooling  mass  is 
effected  by  conduction^  or  by  convection^  or  by  both.  In 
a  solid  it  is  wholly  by  conduction;  in  a  liquid  or  gas  the 
chief  part  is  played  by  convection — by  circulating  currents 
which  continually  transpose  the  hotter  and  cooler  parts. 
Now  in  fluid  spheroids — gaseous,  or  liquid,  or  mixed — • 
increasing  size  entails  an  increasing  obstacle  to  cooling, 
consequent  on  the  increasing  distances  to  be  travelled 
by  the  circulating  currents.  Of  course  the  relation  is  not  a 
simple  one  :  the  velocities  of  the  currents  will  be  unlike. 
It  is  manifest,  however,  that  in  a  sphere  of  eleven  times  the 
diameter,  the  transit  of  matter  from  centre  to  surface  and 
back  from  surface  to  centre,  will  take  a  much  longer  time ; 
even  if  its  movement  is  unrestrained.  But  its  movement 
is,  in  such  cases  as  we  are  considering,  greatly  restrained. 
In  a  rotating  spheroid  there  come  into  play  retarding 
forces  augmenting  with  the  velocity  of  rotation.  In  such 
a  spheroid  the  respective  portions  of  matter  (supposing  them 
equal  in  their  angular  velocities  round  the  axis,  which  they 
will  tend  more  and  more  to  become  as  the  density  increases), 
must  vary  in  their  absolute  velocities  according  to  their 
distances  from  the  axis ;  and  each  portion  cannot  have  its 
distance  from  the  axis  changed  by  circulating  currents, 
which  it  must  continually  be,  without  loss  or  gain  in  its 
quantity  of  motion :  through  the  medium  of  fluid  friction, 
force  must  be  expended,  now  in  increasing  its  motion  and 
now  in  retarding  its  motion.  Hence,  when  the  larger 
spheroid  has  also  a  higlicr  velocity  of  rotation,  the  relative 
slowness  of  the  circulating  currents,  and  the  consequent 
retardation  of  cooling,  must  be  much  greater  than  is  implied 
by  the  extra  distances  to  be  travelled. 

And  now  observe  the  correspondence  between  inference 
nnd  fact.  In  the  first  place,  if  we  compare  the  group  of 
the  great  planets,  Jupiter,  Saturn,  and  Uranus,  with  the 
group  of  the  small  planets,  Mars,  Earth,  Yenus,  and  Mercm  y, 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  147 

we  see  tliat  low  density  goes  along  with  great  size  and  great 
velocity  of  rotation,  and  tliat  higli  density  goes  along  with 
small  size  and  small  velocity  of  rotation.  In  the  second 
place,  we  are  shown  this  relation  still  more  clearly  if  we 
compare  the  extreme  instances — Saturn  and  Mercury.  The 
special  contrast  of  these  two,  like  the  general  contrast  of  the 
groups,  points  to  the  truth  tliat  low  density,  like  the  satellite- 
forming  tendency,  is  associated  with  the  ratio  borne  by 
centrifugal  force  to  gravity ;  for  in  the  case  of  Saturn  with 
his  many  satellites  and  least  density,  centrifugal  force  at 
the  equator  is  nearly  ^th  of  gravity,  whereas  in  Mercury 
with  no  satellite  and  greatest  density  centrifugal  force  is 
but  3^0^^  of  gravity. 

There  are,  however,  certain  factors  which,  working  in  an 
opposite  way,  qualify  and  complicate  these  effects.  Other 
things  equal,  mutual  gravitation  among  the  parts  of  a  large 
mass  will  cause  a  greater  evolution  of  heat  than  is  similarly 
caused  in  a  small  mass ;  and  the  resulting  difference  of 
temperature  will  tend  to  produce  more  rapid  dissipation  of 
heat.  To  this  must  be  added  the  greater  velocity  of  the 
circulating  currents  which  the  intenser  forces  at  Avork  in 
larger  spheroids  will  produce — a  contrast  made  still  greater 
by  the  relatively  smaller  retardation  by  friction  to  which  the 
more  voluminous  currents  are  exposed.  In  these  causes, 
joined  with  causes  previously  indicated,  we  may  recognize 
a  probable  explanation  of  the  otherwise  anomalous  fact 
that  the  Sun,  though  having  a  thousand  times  the  mass  of 
Jupiter,  has  yet  reached  as  advanced  a  stage  of  concentra- 
tion. For  the  force  of  gravity  in  the  Sun,  which  at  his 
surface  is  some  ten  times  that  at  the  surface  of  Jupiter, 
must  expose  his  central  parts  to  a  pressure  relatively  very 
intense;  producing,  during  contraction,  a  relatively  rapid 
genesis  of  heat.  And  it  is  further  to  be  remarked  that, 
though  the  circulating  currents  in  the  Sun  have  far  greater 
distances  to  travel,  yet  since  his  rotation  is  relatively  so 
Blow  that  the  angular  velocity  of  his  substance  is  but  about 


148  THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS. 

one- sixtieth  of  that  of  Jupiter's  substance^  the  resulting 
obstacle  to  circulating  currents  is  relatively  small,  and  the 
escape  of  heat  far  less  retarded.  Here,  too,  we  may  note 
that  in  the  co-operation  of  these  factors,  there  seems  a 
reason  for  the  greater  concentration  reached  by  Jupiter 
than  by  Saturn,  though  Saturn  is  the  elder  as  well  as  the 
smaller  of  the  two ;  for  at  the  same  time  that  the  gravita- 
tive  force  in  Jupiter  is  more  than  twice  as  great  as  in 
Saturn,  his  velocity  of  rotation  is  very  little  greater,  so 
that  the  opposition  of  the  centrifugal  force  to  the  centri- 
petal is  not  much  more  than  half. 

But  now,  not  judging  more  than  roughly  of  the  effects 
of  these  several  factors,  co-operating  in  various  ways  and 
degrees,  some  to  aid  concentration  and  others  to  resist  it, 
it  is  sufficiently  manifest  that,  other  things  equal,  the  larger 
nebulous  spheroids,  longer  in  losing  their  heat,  will  more 
slowly  reach  high  specific  gravities  ;  and  that  where  the 
contrasts  in  size  are  so  immense  as  those  between  the  greater 
and  the  smaller  planets,  the  smaller  may  have  reached 
relatively  high  specific  gravities  when  the  greater  have 
reached  but  relatively  low  ones.  Further,  it  appears  that 
such  qualification  of  the  process  as  results  from  the  more 
rapid  genesis  of  heat  in  the  larger  masses,  will  be  counter- 
vailed where  high  velocity  of  rotation  greatly  impedes  the 
circulating  currents.  Thus  interpreted  then,  the  various 
specitic  gravities  of  the  planets  may  be  held  to  furnish 
further  evidences  supporting  the  Nebular  Hypothesis. 

Increase  of  density  and  escape  of  heat  are  correlated 
phenomena,  and  hence  in  the  foregoing  section,  treating  of 
the  respective  densities  of  the  celestial  bodies  in  connexion 
with  nebular  condensation,  much  has  been  said  and  implied 
respecting  the  accompanying  genesis  and  dissipation  of 
heat.  Quite  apart,  however,  from  the  foregoing  arguments 
and  inferences,  there  is  to  be  noted  the  fact  that  in  the 
present  temperatures  of  the  celestial  bodies  at  large  we  find 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  149 

additional  supports  to  the  hypothesis;  and  these,  too,  of 
the  most  substantial  character.  For  if,  as  is  implied  above, 
heat  must  inevitably  be  generated  by  the  aggregation  of 
diffused  matter,  we  ought  to  find  in  all  the  heavenly  bodies, 
either  present  high  temperatures  or  marks  of  past  high 
temperatures.  This  we  do,  in  the  places  and  in  the  degrees 
which  the  hypothesis  requires. 

Observations  showing  that  as  we  descend  below  the 
Earth's  surface  there  is  a  progressive  increase  of  heat, 
joiued  with  the  conspicuous  evidence  furnished  by  vol- 
canoes, necessitate  the  conclusion  that  the  temperature  is 
very  high  at  great  depths.  Whether,  as  some  believe,  the 
interior  of  the  Earth  is  still  molten,  or  whether,  as  Sir 
William  Thomson  contends,  it  must  be  solid;  there  is  agree- 
ment in  the  inference  that  its  heat  is  intense.  And  it  has 
been  further  shown  that  the  rate  at  which  the  temperature 
increases  on  descending  below  the  surface,  is  such  as  would 
be  found  in  a  mass  which  had  been  cooling  for  an  indefinite 
period.  The  Moon,  too,  shows  us,  by  its  corrugations  and 
its  conspicuous  extinct  volcanoes,  that  in  it  there  has  been 
a  process  of  refrigeration  and  contraction,  like  that  which 
has  gone  on  in  the  Earth.  There  is  no  teleological  explana- 
tion of  these  facts.  The  frequent  destructions  of  life  by 
earthquakes  and  volcanoes,  imply,  rather,  that  it  would  have 
been  better  had  the  Earth  been  created  with  a  low  internal 
temperature.  But  if  we  contemplate  the  facts  in  con- 
nexion with  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  w^e  see  that  this  still- 
continued  high  internal  heat  is  one  of  its  corollaries.  The 
Earth  must  have  passed  through  the  gaseous  and  the 
molten  conditions  before  it  became  solid,  and  must  for  an 
almost  infinite  period  by  its  internal  heat  continue  to  bear 
evidence  of  this  origin. 

The  group  of  giant  planets  furnishes  remarkable  evidence. 
The  a  priori  inference  drawn  above,  that  great  size  joined 
with  relatively  high  ratio  of  centrifugal  force  to  gravity 
must  greatly  retard  aggregation,  and  must  thus,  by  check- 


150  THE    NEBULAE    HYPOTHESIS. 

ing  the  genesis  and  dissipation  of  heat,  make  the  process 
of  cooling  a  slow  one,  has  of  late  years  received  verifica- 
tions from  inferences  drawn  a  posteriori ;  so  that  now  the 
current  conclusion  among  astronomers  is  that  in  physical 
condition  the  great  planets  are  in  stages  midway  between 
that  of  the  Earth  and  that  of  the  Sun.  The  fact  that  the 
centre  of  Jupiter's  disc  is  twice  or  thrice  as  bright  as  his 
periphery,  joined  with  the  facts  that  he  seems  to  radiate 
more  light  than  is  accounted  for  by  reflection  of  the  Sun's 
rays,  and  that  his  spectrum  shows  the  "  red-star  line  ",  are 
taken  as  evidences  of  luminosity ;  while  the  immense  and 
rapid  perturbations  in  his  atmosphere,  far  greater  than 
could  be  caused  by  heat  received  from  the  Sun,  as  well  as 
the  formation  of  spots  analogous  to  those  of  the  Sun,  which 
also,  like  those  of  the  Sun,  show  a  higher  rate  of  rotation 
near  the  equator  than  further  from  it,  are  held  to  imply  high 
internal  temperature.  Thus  in  Jupiter,  as  also  in  Saturn,  we 
find  states  which,  not  admitting  of  any  teleological  explana- 
tions (for  they  manifestly  exclude  the  possibility  of  life), 
admit  of  explanations  derived  from  the  Nebular  Hypothesis. 
But  the  argument  from  temperature  does  not  end  here. 
There  remains  to  be  noticed  a  more  conspicuous  and  still 
more  significant  fact.  If  the  Solar  System  was  produced 
by  the  concentration  of  diffused  matter,  which  evolved 
heat  while  gravitating  into  its  present  dense  form ;  then 
there  is  an  obvious  implication.  Other  things  equal,  the 
latest-formed  mass  will  be  the  latest  in  cooling — will,  for 
an  almost  infinite  time,  possess  a  greater  heat  than  the 
earlier-formed  ones.  Other  things  equal,  the  largest  mass 
will,  because  of  its  superior  aggregative  force,  become 
hotter  than  the  others,  and  radiate  more  intensely.  Other 
things  equal,  the  largest  mass,  notwithstanding  the 
higher  temperature  it  reaches,  will,  in  consequence  of  its 
relatively  small  surface,  be  the  slowest  in  losing  its  evolved 
heat.  And  hence,  if  there  is  one  mass  which  was  not  only 
formed  after   the  rest,  but  exceeds  them  enormously  in 


THE    NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS.  151 

size,  it  follows  tliat  this  one  will  reacli  an  intensity  of 
incandescence  far  beyond  that  reached  by  the  rest;  and 
will  continue  in  a  state  of  intense  incandescence  long  after 
the  rest  have  cooled.  Such  a  mass  we  have  in  the  Sun.  It 
is  a  corollary  from  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  that  the  matter 
forming  the  Sun  assumed  its  present  integrated  shape 
at  a  period  much  more  recent  than  that  at  which  the  planets 
became  definite  bodies.  The  quantity  of  matter  contained 
in  the  Sun  is  nearly  five  million  times  that  contained  in 
the  smallest  planet,  and  above  a  thousand  times  that 
contained  in  the  largest.  And  while,  from  the  enormous 
gravitative  force  of  his  parts  to  their  common  centre,  the 
evolution  of  heat  has  been  intense,  the  facilities  of  radia- 
tion have  been  relatively  small.  Hence  the  still-continued 
high  temperature.  Just  that  condition  of  the  central  body 
which  is  a  necessary  inference  from  the  Nebular  Hypo- 
thesis, we  find  actually  existing  in  the  Sun. 

[The  paragraph  which  here  follows,  though  it  contains 
some  questionable  propositions,  I  reproduce  just  as  it  stood 
when  first  published  in  1858,  for  reasons  which  will  pre- 
sently be  apparent.] 

It  may  be  well  to  consider  more  closely,  what  is  the 
probable  condition  of  the  Sun's  surface.  Round  the  globe 
of  incandescent  molten  substances,  thus  conceived  to  form 
the  visible  body  of  the  Sun  [which  in  conformity  with  the 
argument  in  a  previous  section,  now  transferred  to  the 
Addenda,  was  inferred  to  be  hollow  and  filled  with  gaseous 
matter  at  high  tension]  there  is  known  to  exist  a  volumin- 
ous atmosphere  :  the  inferior  brilliancy  of  the  Sun's  bordei*, 
and  the  appearances  during  a  total  eclipse,  alike  show  this. 
What  now  must  be  the  constitution  of  this  atmosphere  ? 
At  a  temperature  approaching  a  thousand  times  that  of 
molten  iron,  which  is  the  calculated  temperature  of  the 
solar  surface,  very  many,  if  not  all,  of  the  substances  we 
know  as  solid,  would  become  gaseous;  and  though  the 
Sun's  enormous  attractive  force  must  be  a  powerful  check 
11 


152  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.    . 

on  tills  tendency  to  assume  the  form  of  vapour,  yet  it 
cannot  be  questioned  that  if  the  body  of  the  Sun  consists 
of  molten  substances,  some  of  them  must  be  constantly 
undergoing  evaporation.  That  the  dense  gases  thus  con- 
tinually being  generated  will  form  the  entire  mass  of  the 
solar  atmosphere,  is  not  probable.  If  anything  is  to  be 
inferred,  either  from  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  or  from  the 
analogies  supplied  by  the  planets,  it  must  be  concluded 
that  the  outermost  part  of  the  solar  atmosphere  consists  of 
what  are  called  permanent  gases — gases  that  are  not  con- 
densible  into  fluid  even  at  low  temperatures.  If  we  consider 
what  must  have  been  the  state  of  things  here,  when  the 
surface  of  the  Earth  was  molten,  we  shall  see  that  round  the 
still  molten  surface  of  the  Sun,  there  probably  exists  a 
stratum  of  dense  aeriform  matter,  made  up  of  sublimed 
metals  and  metallic  compounds,  and  above  this  a  stratum 
of  comparatively  rare  medium  analogous  to  air.  What 
now  will  happen  with  these  two  strata  ?  Did  they  both 
consist  of  permanent  gases,  they  could  not  remain  separate  : 
according  to  a  well-known  law,  they  would  eventually  form 
a  homogeneous  mixture.  But  this  will  by  no  means  happen 
when  the  lower  stratum  consists  of  matters  that  are  gaseous 
only  at  excessively  high  temperatures.  Given  off  from  a 
molten  surface,  ascending,  expanding,  and  cooling,  these 
will  presently  reach  a  limit  of  elevation  above  which  they 
cannot  exist  as  vapour,  but  must  condense  and  precipitate. 
Meanwhile  the  upper  stratum,  habitually  charged  with  its 
quantum  of  these  denser  matters,  as  our  air  with  its  quantum 
of  water,  and  ready  to  deposit  them  on  any  depression  of 
temperature,  must  be  habitually  unable  to  take  up  any 
more  of  the  lower  stratum ;  and  therefore  this  lower  stratum 
will  remain  quite  distinct  from  it.* 

Considered  in  their  ensemble,  the  several  groups  of  evi- 
dences assigned  amount  almost  to  proof.     We  have  seen 
*  I  was  about  to  suppress  part  of  the  above  paragraph,  written  before  the 


THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS.  153 

thatj  when  critically  examined^  tlie  speculations  of  late 
years  current  respecting  the  nature  of  the  nebulae,  commit 
their  promulgators  to  sundry  absurdities;  while^  on  the  other 
hand,  we  see  that  the  various  appearances  these  nobulre 
present,  are  explicable  as  different  stages  in  the  precipi- 
tation and  aggrog-ation  of  diffused  matter.  We  find  that 
the  immense  majority  of  comets  {i.e.  omitting  the  periodic 
ones),  by  their  physical  constitution,  tlieir  immensely- 
extended  and  variously-directed  paths,  the  distribution  of 
those  paths,  and  their  manifest  structural  relation  to  the 
Solar  System,  bear  testimony  to  the  past  existence  of  that 
system  in  a  nebulous  form.  Not  only  do  those  obvious 
peculiarities  in  the  motions  of  the  planets  which  first  sug- 
gested the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  supply  proofs  of  it,  but  on 
closer  examination  we  discover,  in  the  slightly-diverging 
inclinations  of  their  orbits,  in  their  various  rates  of  rotation, 
and  tlieir  differently-directed  axes  of  rotation,  that  the 
planets  yield  us  yet  further  testimony;  while  the  satellites, 

science  of  solar  physics  had  taken  shape,  because  of  certain  physical  difficul- 
ties which  stand  in  the  way  of  its  argument,  when,  on  looking  into  recent 
astronomical  works,  I  found  that  the  hypothesis  it  sets  forth  respecting  the 
Sun's  structure  has  kinships  to  the  several  hypotheses  since  set  forth  by 
Zollner,  Faye,  and  Young.  I  have  therefore  decided  to  let  it  stand  as  it 
originally  did. 

The  contemplated  partial  suppression  just  named,  was  prompted  by  recog- 
nition of  the  truth  that  to  effect  mechanical  stability  the  gaseous  interior  of 
the  Sun  must  have  a  density  at  least  equal  to  that  of  the  molten  shell  (greater, 
indeed,  at  the  centre) ;  and  this  seems  to  imply  a  specific  gravity  higher  than 
that  which  he  possesses.  It  may,  indeed,  be  that  the  unknown  elements 
which  spectrum  analysis  shows  to  exist  in  the  Sun,  are  metals  of  very  low 
specific  gravities,  and  that,  existing  in  large  proportion  with  other  of  the 
lighter  metals,  they  may  form  a  molten  shell  not  denser  than  is  implied  by 
the  facts.     But  this  can  be  regarded  as  nothing  more  than  a  possibility. 

No  need,  however,  has  arisen  for  either  relinquishing  or  holding  but  loosely 
the  associated  conclusions  respecting  the  constitution  of  the  photosphere  and 
its  envelope.  Widely  speculative  as  seemed  these  suggested  corollaries  from 
the  Nebular  Hypotliesis  when  set  forth  in  1858,  and  quite  at  variance  with 
the  beliefs  then  current,  they  proved  to  be  not  ill-founded.  At  the  close  of 
iwno,  there  came  the  discoveries  of  Kirchhoff,  proving  the  existence  of 
Viirious  metallic  vapours  in  the  Sun's  atmosphere. 


154  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

by  sundry  traits,  and  especially  by  their  occurrence  in 
greater  or  less  abundance  whero  the  hypothesis  implies 
greater  or  less  abundance,  confirm  this  testimony.  By 
tracing  out  the  process  of  planetary  condensation,  we  are 
led  to  conclusions  respecting  the  physical  states  of  planets 
which  exphiin  their  anomilous  specific  gravities.  Once 
more,  it,  turns  out  that  what  is  inferable  from  the  Nebular 
Hypothesis  respecting  the  temperatures  of  celestial  bodies, 
is  just  what  observ.ition  establishes;  and  that  both  the 
absolute  and  the  relative  temperatures  of  the  Sun  and 
planets  are  thus  accounted  for.  When  we  contemplate 
these  various  evidences  in  their  totality — when  we  observe 
that,  by  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  the  leading  phenomena  of 
the  Solar  System,  and  the  heavens  in  general,  are  explicable; 
and  when,  on  the  other  hand,  we  consider  that  the  current 
cosmogony  is  not  only  without  a  single  fact  to  stand  on, 
but  is  at  variance  with  all  our  positive  knowledge  of 
Nature,  we  see  that  the  proof  becomes  overwhelming. 

It  remains  only  to  point  out  that  while  the  genesis  of  the 
Solar  System,  and  of  countless  other  systems  like  it,  is  thus 
rendered  comprehensible,  the  ultimate  mystery  continues 
as  great  as  ever.  The  problem  of  existence  is  not  solved : 
it  is  simply  removed  further  back.  The  Nebular  Hypothesis 
throws  no  light  on  the  origin  of  diffused  matter;  and 
diffused  matter  as  much  needs  accounting  for  as  concrete 
matter.  The  genesis  of  an  atom  is  not  easier  to  conceive 
than  the  genesis  of  a  planet.  Nay,  indeed,  so  far  from 
making  the  Universe  less  a  mystery  than  before,  it  makes 
it  a  greater  mystery.  Creation  by  manufacture  is  a  much 
lower  thing  than  creation  by  evolution.  A  man  can  put 
together  a  machine ;  but  he  cannot  make  a  machine 
develop  itself.  That  our  harmonious  universe  once  existed 
potentially  as  formless  diffused  matter,  and  has  slowly 
grown  into  its  present  organized  state,  is  a  far  more  aston- 
ishinar  fact  than  would  have  been  its  formation  after  the 
artificial  method  vulgarly  supposed.     Those  who  hold  it 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  155 

legitimate  to  argue  from  plionomena  to  noumena^  may 
rightly  contend  that  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  implies  a  First 
Cause  as  much  transcending  ''the  mechanical  God  of 
Paley,''  as  this  does  the  fetish  of  the  savage. 


ADDE]!^DA. 


Speculative  as  is  much  of  the  foregoing  essay,  it 
appears  undesirable  to  include  in  it  anything  still  more 
speculative.  For  this  reason  I  have  decided  to  set  forth 
separately  some  views  concerning  the  genesis  of  the 
so-called  elements  during  nebular  condensation,  and  con- 
cerning the  accompanying  physical  effects.  At  the  same 
time  it  has  seemed  best  to  detach  from  the  essay  some  of 
the  more  debatable  conclusions  originally  contained  in  it ; 
so  that  its  general  argument  may  not  be  needlessly 
implicated  with  them.  These  new  portions,  together  with 
the  old  portions  which  re-appear  more  or  less  modified, 
1  here  append  in  a  series  of  notes. 

Note  I.  For  the  belief  that  the  so-called  elements  are 
compound  there  are  both  special  reasons  and  general 
reasons.  Among  the  special  may  be  named  the  parallelism 
between  allotropy  and  isomerism;  the  numerous  lines  in 
the  spectrum  of  each  element ;  and  the  cyclical  law  of 
Newlands  and  Mendeljeff.  Of  the  more  general  reasons, 
which,  as  distinguished  from  these  chemical  or  chemico- 


156  THE    NKBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

physical  ones,  may  fitly  be  called  cosmical^  tlie  following 
are  the  chief. 

The  general  law  of  evolution,  if  it  does  not  actually 
involve  the  conclusion  that  the  so-called  elements  are 
compounds,  yet  affords  a  'priori  ground  for  suspecting  that 
they  are  such.  The  implication  is  that,  while  the  matter 
composing  the  Solar  System  has  progressed  physically 
from  that  relatively-homogeneous  state  which  it  had  as 
a  nebula  to  that  relatively-heterogeneous  state  presented 
by  Sun,  planets,  and  satellites,  it  has  also  progressed 
chemically,  from  the  relatively-homogeneous  state  in  which 
it  was  composed  of  one  or  a  few  types  of  matter,  to  that 
relatively-heterogeneous  state  in  which  it  is  composed  of 
many  types  of  matter  very  diverse  in  their  properties. 
This  deduction  from  the  law  which  holds  throughout  the 
cosmos  as  now  known  to  us,  would  have  much  weight  even 
"were  it  unsupported  by  induction  ;  but  a  survey  of  chemical 
phenomena  at  large  discloses  several  groups  of  inductive 
evidences  supporting  it. 

The  first  is  that  since  the  cooling  of  the  Earth  reached  an 
advanced  stage,  the  components  of  its  crust  have  been  ever 
increasing  in  heterogeneity.  When  the  so-called  elements, 
originally  existing  in  a  dissociated  state,  united  into  oxides, 
acids,  and  other  binary  compounds,  the  total  number  of 
different  substances  was  immensely  augmented,  the  new 
substances  were  more  complex  than  the  old,  and  their  pro- 
perties were  more  varied.  That  is,  the  assemblage  became 
more  heterogeneous  in  its  kinds,  in  the  composition  of  each 
kind,  and  in  the  range  of  chemical  characters.  When,  at  a 
later  period,  there  arose  salts  and  other  compounds  of  similar 
degrees  of  complexity,  there  was  again  an  increase  of 
heterogeneity,  alike  in  the  aggregate  and  in  its  members. 
And  when,  still  later,  matters  classed  as  organic  became 
possible,  the  multiformity  was  yet  further  augmented  in 
kindred  ways.  If,  then,  chemical  evolution,  so  far  as  we 
can  trnf-e  it,  has  been  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  hetero- 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  157 

geneons,  may  we  not  fairly  suppose  tliat  it  lias  been  so 
from  the  beginning  ?  If,  from  late  stages  in  the  Earth's 
history,  we  run  back,  and  find  the  lines  of  chemical 
evolution  continually  converging,  until  they  bring  us  to 
bodies  which  we  cannot  decompose,  may  we  not  suspect 
that,  could  we  run  back  these  lines  still  further,  we  should 
come  to  still  decreasing  heterogeneity  in  the  number 
and  nature  of  the  substances,  until  we  reached  something 
like  homogeneity  ? 

A  parallel  argument  may  be  derived  from  consideration 
of  the  affinities  and  stabilities  of  chemical  compounds. 
Beginning  with  the  complex  nitrogenous  bodies  out  of 
which  living  things  are  formed,  and  which,  in  the  history  of 
the  Earth,  are  the  most  modern,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
are  the  most  heterogeneous,  we  see  that  the  afiinities  and 
stabilities  of  these  are  extremely  small.  Their  molecules 
do  not  enter  bodily  into  union  with  those  of  other  sub- 
stances so  as  to  form  more  complex  compounds  still,  and 
their  components  often  fail  to  hold  together  under  ordinary 
conditions.  A  stage  lower  in  degree  of  composition  we 
come  to  the  vast  assemblage  of  oxy-hydro-carbons,  numbers 
of  which  show  many  and  decided  affinities,  and  are  stable 
at  common  temperatures.  Passing  to  the  inorganic  group, 
we  are  shown  by  the  salts  &c.  strong  affinities  between 
their  components  and  unions  which  are,  in  many  cases, 
not  very  easily  broken.  And  then  when  we  come  to  the 
oxides,  acids,  and  other  binary  compounds,  we  see  that  in 
many  cases  the  elements  of  which  they  are  formed,  when 
]>rought  into  the  presence  of  one  another  under  favourable 
conditions,  unite  with  violence  ;  and  that  many  of  their 
unions  cannot  be  dissolved  by  heat  alone.  If,  then,  as  we 
go  back  from  the  most  modern  and  most  complex  substances 
to  the  most  ancient  and  simplest  substances,  we  see,  on  the 
average,  a  great  increase  in  affinity  aiid  stability,  it  results 
that  it"  the  same  law  holds  with  the  simplest  substances 
known  to  us,  the  components  of  these,  if  they  are  compound, 


158  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

may  be  assumed  to  have  united  witli  affinities  far  more 
intense  than  any  we  have  experience  of,  and  to  chng  together 
with  tenacities  far  exceeding  the  tenacities  with  which 
chemistry  acquaints  us.  Hence  the  existence  of  a  class  of 
substances  which  are  undecomposable  and  therefore  seem 
simple,  appears  to  be  an  implication;  and  the  corollary  is 
that  these  were  formed  during  early  stages  of  terrestrial 
concentration,  under  conditions  of  heat  and  pressure  which 
we  cannot  now  parallel. 

Yet  another  support  for  the  belief  that  the  so-called 
elements  are  compounds,  is  derived  from  a  comparison  of 
them,  considered  as  an  aggregate  ascending  in  their  mole- 
cular weights,  with  the  aggregate  of  bodies  known  to  be 
compound,  similai-ly  considered  in  their  ascending  molecular 
weights.  Contrast  the  binary  compounds  as  a  class  Avith 
the  quaternary  compounds  as  a  class.  The  molecules 
constituting  oxides  (whether  alkaline  or  acid  or  neutral) 
chlorides,  sulphurets,  &c.  are  relatively  small ;  and,  com- 
bining with  great  avidity,  form  stable  compounds.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  molecules  constituting  nitrogenous 
bodies  are  relatively  vast  and  are  chemically  inert;  and 
such  combinations  as  their  simpler  types  enter  into,  cannot 
withstand  disturbing  forces.  Now  a  like  diiference  is  seen 
if  we  contrast  with  one  another  the  so-called  elements. 
Those  of  relatively-low  molecular  weights — oxygen,  hy- 
drogen, potassium,  sodium,  &c., — show  great  readiness  to 
unite  among  themselves ;  and,  indeed,  many  of  them 
cannot  be  prevented  from  uniting  under  ordinary  conditions. 
Contrariwise,  under  ordinary  conditions  the  substances  of 
high  molecular  weights — the  "noble  metals" — are  indifferent 
to  other  substances ;  and  such  compounds  as  they  do  form 
under  conditions  specially  adjusted,  are  easily  destroyed. 
Thus  as,'  among  the  bodies  we  know  to  bo  compound, 
increasing  molecular  weight  is  associated  with  the  appeal » 
ance  of  certain  characters,  and  as,  among  the  bodies  we 
class  as  simple,  increasing  molecular  weight  is  associated 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  159 

with   the  appearance  of  similar  characters,  the  composite 
nature  of  the  elements  is  in  another  way  pointed  to. 

There  has  to  be  added  one  further  class  of  phenomena, 
congruous  with  those  above  named,  which  here  specially 
concerns  us.  Looking  generally  at  chemical  unions,  we  see 
that  the  heat  evolved  usually  decreases  as  the  degree  of 
composition,  and  consequent  massiveness,  of  the  molecules, 
increases.  In  the  first  place,  we  have  the  fact  that  during 
the  formation  of  simple  compounds  the  heat  evolved  is 
much  greater  than  that  which  is  evolved  during  the 
formation  of  complex  compounds :  the  elements,  when 
uniting  with  one  another,  usually  give  out  much  heat; 
while,  when  the  compounds  they  form  are  recompounded, 
but  little  heat  is  given  out;  and,  as  shown  by  the 
experiments  of  Prof.  Andrews,  the  heat  given  out  during 
the  union  of  acids  and  bases  is  habitually  smaller  where 
the  molecular  weight  of  the  base  is  greater.  Then,  in  the 
second  place,  we  see  that  among  the  elements  themselves, 
the  unions  of  those  having  low  molecular  weights  result  in 
far  more  heat  than  do  the  unions  of  those  having  high 
molecular  weights.  If  we  proceed  on  the  supposition  that 
the  so-called  elements  are  compounds,  and  if  this  law,  if 
not  universal,  holds  of  uudecomposable  substances  as  of 
decomposable,  then  there  are  tAvo  implications.  The  one 
is  that  those  compoundings  and  recompoundings  by  which 
the  elements  were  formed,  must  have  been  accompanied 
by  degrees  of  heat  exceeding  any  degrees  of  heat  known  to 
us.  The  other  is  that  among  these  compoundings  and 
recompoundings  themselves,  those  by  which  the  small- 
nioleculed  elements  were  formed  produced  more  intense 
heat  than  those  by  which  tiio  large-moleculed  elements 
were  formed :  the  elements  formed  by  the  final  recom- 
poundings being  necessarily  later  in  origin,  and  at  the 
same  time  less  stable,  tliun  tlio  earlier-formed  ones. 

Note  II    May  we  from  these  proj)ositionSj  and  especially 


160 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 


from  tlie  last,  draw  any  conclusions  respecting  the  evolutiijti 
of  heat  during  nebular  condensation  ?  And  do  such  con- 
clusions affect  in  any  way  the  conclusions  now  current  ? 

In  the  first  place,  it  seems  inferable  from  physico- 
chemical  facts  at  large,  that  only  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  those  combinations  which  formed  the  elements,  did 
the  concentration  of  diffused  nebulous  matter  into  concrete 
masses  become  possible.  If  we  remember  that  hydrogen 
and  oxygen  in  their  uncombinod  states  oppose,  the  one  an 
insuperable  and  the  other  an  almost  insuperable,  resistance 
to  liquefaction,  while  when  combined  the  compound 
assumes  the  liquid  state  with  facility,  we  may  suspect  that 
in  like  manner  the  simpler  types  of  matter  out  of  which 
the  elements  were  formed,  could  not  have  been  reduced  even 
to  such  degrees  of  density  as  the  known  gases  show  us, 
without  what  we  may  call  proto-chemical  unions :  the 
implication  being  that  after  the  heat  resulting  from  each 
of  such  proto-chemical  unions  had  escaped,  mutual  gravita- 
tion of  the  parts  was  able  to  produce  further  condensation 
of  the  nebulous  mass. 

If  wo  thus  distinguish  between  the  two  sources  of  heat 
accompanying  nebular  condensation — the  heat  due  to  proto- 
chemical  combinations  and  that  due  to  the  contraction  caused 
by  gravitation  (both  of  them,  however,  being  interpretable 
as  consequent  on  loss  of  motion),  it  may  be  inferred  that 
they  take  different  shares  during  the  earlier  and  during  the 
later  stages  of  aggregation.  It  seems  probable  that  while 
the  diffusion  is  great  and  the  force  of  mutual  gravitation 
small,  the  chief  source  of  heat  is  combination  of  units  of 
inaUer,  simpler  than  any  known  to  us,  into  such  units  of 
matter  as  those  we  know ;  while,  conversely,  when  there 
Las  been  reached  close  aggregation,  the '  chief  source  of 
heat  is  gravitation,  with  consequent  pressure  and  gradual 
contraction.  Supposing  this  to  be  so,  let  us  ask  what  may 
be  inferred.  If  at  the  time  when  the  nebulous  spheroid 
from  which  the  Solar  System  resulted,  filled  the  orbit  of 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  161 

Neptune,  it  had  reached  such  a  degree  of  density  as 
enabled  those  units  of  matter  which  compose  the  sodium 
molecules  to  enter  into  combination ;  and  if,  in  conformity 
with  the  analogies  above  indicated,  the  heat  evolved  by 
this  proto-chemical  combination  was  great  compared  with 
the  heats  evolved  by  the  chemical  combinations  known 
to  us;  the  implication  is  that  the  nebulous  spheroid,  in 
the  course  of  its  contraction,  would  have  to  get  rid  of  a 
much  larger  quantity  of  heat  than  it  would,  did  it  commence 
at  any  ordinary  temperature  and  had  only  to  lose  the  heat 
consequent  on  contraction.  That  is  to  say,  in  estimating 
the  past  period  during  which  solar  emission  of  heat  has 
been  going  on  at  a  high  rate,  much  must  depend  on 
the  initial  temperature  assumed ;  and  this  may  have  been 
rendered  intense  by  the  proto-chemical  changes  which  took 
place  in  early  stages.* 

Eespecting  the  future  duration  of  the  solar  heat,  there 
must  also  be  differences  between  the  estimates  made 
according  as  we  do  or  do  not  take  into  account  the  proto- 
chemical  changes  which  possibly  have  still  to  take  place. 
True  as  it  may  be  that  the  quantity  of  heat  to  be  emitted 

*  Of  course  there  remains  the  question  whether,  before  the  stage  here 
recognized,  there  liad  already  been  produced  a  high  temperature  by  those 
collisions  of  celestial  masses  which  reduced  the  matter  to  a  nebulous  form.  As 
suggested  in  First  Principles  (§  130  m  the  edition  of  1SC2,  and  §  182  in  sub- 
seijuent  editions),  there  must,  after  there  have  been  effected  all  those  minor 
dissolutions  which  follow  evolutions,  remain  to  be  effected  the  dissolutions 
of  the  great  bodies  n  and  on  which  the  minor  evolutions  and  dissolutions 
liave  taken  place;  aud  it  was  argued  that  such  dissolutions  will  be,  at  some 
time  or  other,  effected  by  those  immense  transformations  of  molar  motion  into 
molecular  motion,  ccns3quent  on  collisions  :  the  argument  being  based  on  the 
statement  of  Sir  John  Herschel,  that  in  clusters  of  stars  collisions  must 
inevitably  occur.  It  may,  however,  be  objected  that  though  such  a  result 
may  be  reasonably  looked  for  in  closely  aggregated  assemblages  of  stars,  it 
is  difficult  to  conceive  of  its  taking  place  throughout  our  Sidereal  System  at 
large,  the  members  of  which,  and  their  intervals,  may  bo  roughly  figured  as 
pins-heads  50  miles  apait.  It  would  seem  that  something  like  an  eternity 
must  elapse  beffne,  by  ethereal  resistance  or  other  cause,  these  can  ba 
brought  into  proximity  great  enough  to  make  collisions  probable. 


162  THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS. 

is  measured  by  the  quantity  of  motion  to  be  lost,  and  that 
this  must  be  the  same  whether  the  approximation  of  the 
molecules  is  effected  by  chemical  unions,  or  by  mutual 
gravitation,  or  by  both;  yet,  evidently,  everything  must 
turn  on  the  degree  of  condensation  supposed  to  be 
eventually  reached  j  and  this  must  in  large  measure  depend 
on  the  natures  of  the  substances  eventually  formed.  Though, 
by  spectrum-analysis,  platinum  has  recently  been  detected 
in  the  solar  atmosphere,  it  seems  clear  that  the  metals  of 
low  molecular  weights  greatly  predominate;  and  supposing 
the  foregoing  arguments  to  be  valid,  it  may  be  inferred,  as 
not  improbable,  that  the  compoundings  and  recompoundiugs 
by  Avhich  the  heavy-moleculed  elements  are  produced,  not 
hitherto  possible  in  large  measure,  will  hereafter  take 
place  ;  and  that,  as  a  result,  the  Sun's  density  will  finally 
become  very  great  in  comparison  with  what  it  is  now.  I 
Ray  "  not  hitherto  possible  in  large  measure",  because  it  is  a 
feasible  supposition  that  they  may  be  formed,  and  can  con- 
tinue to  exist,  only  in  certain  outer  parts  of  the  Solar  mass, 
where  the  pressure  is  sufficiently  great  while  the  heat  is  not 
too  great.  And  if  this  be  so,  the  implication  is  that  the 
interior  body  of  the  Sun,  higher  in  temperature  than  its 
peripheral  layers,  may  consist  wholly  of  the  metals  of  low 
atomic  weights,  and  that  this  may  be  a  part  cause  of  his 
low  specific  gravity;  and  a  further  implication  is  that 
when,  in  course  of  time,  the  internal  temperature  falls,  the 
heavy-moleculed  elements,  as  they  severally  become  capable 
cf  (existing  in  it,  may  arise  :  the  formation  of  each  having  an 
evolution  of  heat  as  its  concomitant.*  If  so,  it  would  seem  to 
*  The  two  sentences  which,  in  the  text,  precede  the  asterisk,  I  have 
introduced  while  these  pages  are  standing  in  type  :  being  led  to  do  so  by  the 
perusal  of  some  notes  kindly  lent  to  me  by  Prof.  Dewar,  containing  the  out- 
line of  a  lecture  he  gave  at  the  Koyal  Institution  during  the  session  of  1880. 
Discussing  the  conditions  under  which,  if  "our  so-called  elements  are  com- 
pounded of  elemental  matter  ",  they  may  have  been  formed,  Prof.  Dewar, 
arguing  from  the  known  habitudes  of  compound  substances,  concludes  that 
the  formation  is  in  each  case  a  function  of  pressure,  temperature,  and  nature 
of  the  environing  gases. 


THE    NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS.  l63 

follow  tLat  the  amount  of  lieat  to  be  emitted  by  tlie  Sun, 
and  the  length  of  the  period  during-  which  the  emission 
will  go  on,  must  be  taken  as  much  greater  than  if  the 
Sun  is  supposed  to  be  permanently  constituted  of  the 
elements  now  predominating  in  him,  and  to  be  capable 
of  only  that  degree  of  condensation  which  such  com- 
position permits. 

Note  III.  Are  the  internal  structures  of  celestial  bodies 
all  the  samOj  or  do  they  differ  ?  And  if  they  differ,  can  we, 
from  the  process  of  nebular  condensation,  infer  the  con- 
ditions under  which  they  assume  one  or  other  character? 
In  the  foregoing  essay  as  originally  published,  these  ques- 
tions were  discussed;  and  though  the  conclusions  reached 
cannot  be  sustained  in  the  form  given  to  them,  they  fore- 
shadow conclusions  which  may,  perhaps,  be  sustained. 
Referring  to  the  conceivable  causes  of  unlike  specific 
gravities  in  the  members  of  the  solar  system,  it  was  said 
that  these  might  be — 

"  1.  Differences  between  the  kinds  of  matter  or  matters  composing  them. 
2.  Differences  between  the  quantities  of  matter ;  for,  other  things  equal,  the 
mutual  gravitation  of  atoms  will  make  a  large  mass  denser  than  a  small 
one.  3.  Differences  between  the  structures :  the  masses  being  either  solid 
or  liquid  throughout,  or  having  central  cavities  filled  with  elastic  aeriform 
substance.  Of  these  three  conceivable  causes,  that  commonly  assigned  is 
the  first,  more  or  less  modified  by  the  second." 

Written  as  this  was  before  spectrum-analysis  had  made 
its  disclosures,  no  notice  could  of  course  be  taken  of  tlie 
way  in  which  these  conflict  with  the  first  of  the  foregoing 
suppositions;  but  after  pointing  out  other  objections  to 
it  the  argument  continued  thus  : — 

"  However,  siaite  of  these  difficulties,  the  current  hypothesis  is,  that  the 
Sun  and  planets,  inclusive  of  the  Earth,  are  either  solid  or  liquid,  or  have 
solid  crusts  with  liquid  nuclei."* 

*  At  the  date  of  this  passage  the  established  teleology  made  it  seem  needful 
to  assume  that  all  the  planets  are  habitable,  and  that  even  beneath  the 
pliotosphere  of  the  Sun  there  exists  a  dark  body  which  may  be  the  scene  of 
life  ;  but  since  then,  the  intluenco  of  teleology  has  so  far  diminished  that 
this  hypothesis  can  no  longer  be  called  the  current  one. 


164 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 


After  saying  that  tlie  familiarity  of  this  hypothesis  must 
not  delude  iis  into  uncritical  acceptance  of  it,  but  that  if 
any  other  hypothesis  is  physically  possible  it  may  reason- 
ably be  entertained,  it  was  argued  that  by  tracing  out 
the  process  of  condensation  in  a  nebulous  spheroid,  we 
are  led  to  infer  the  eventual  formation  of  a  molten  shell 
with  a  nucleus  consisting  of  gaseous  matter  at  high  tension. 
The  paragraph  which  then  follows  runs  thus : — 

"  But  what,"  it  may  be  asked,  "  will  become  of  this  gaseous  nucleus  whea 
exposed  to  the  enormous  gravitative  pressure  of  a  shell  some  thousands  of 
miles  thick?  How  can  aeriform  matter  withstand  such  a  pressure?" 
Very  readily.  It  has  been  proved  that,  even  when  the  heat  generated  by 
compression  is  allowed  to  escape,  some  gases  remain  uncondensible  by  any 
force  we  can  produce.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  lately  made  in  Vienna  to 
liquify  oxygen,  clearly  shows  this  enormous  resistance.  The  steel  piston 
employed  was  literally  shortened  by  the  pressure  used ;  and  yet  the  gas 
remained  unliquified!  If,  then,  the  expansive  force  is  thus  immense  when 
the  heat  evolved  is  dissipated,  what  umst  it  be  when  that  heat  is  in  great 
measure  detained,  as  in  the  case  we  are  considering  ?  Indeed  the  experi- 
ences of  M.  Cagniavd  de  Latour  have  shown  that  gases  may,  under  pressure, 
acquire  the  density  of  liquids  while  retaining  the  aeriform  state,  provided 
the  temperature  continues  extremely  high.  In  such  a  case,  every  addition 
to  the  heat  is  an  addition  to  the  repulsive  povv-er  of  the  atoms :  the 
increased  pressure  itself  generates  an  increased  ability  to  resist;  and  this 
remains  true  to  whatever  extent  the  compression  is  carried.  Indeed  it  is 
a  corollary  from  the  persistence  of  force  that  if,  under  increasing  pressure, 
a  gas  retains  all  the  heat  evolved,  its  resisting  force  is  absolutely  unlimited. 
Hence  the  internal  planetary  structure  we  have  described  is  as  physically 
stable  a  one  as  that  commonly  assumed." 

Had  this  paragraph,  and  the  subsequent  paragraphs,  been 
written  five  years  later,  when  Prof.  Andrews  had  published 
an  account  of  his  researches,  the  propositions  they  contain, 
while  rendered  more  specific  and  at  the  same  time  more 
defensible,  would  perhaps  have  been  freed  from  the 
erroneous  implication  that  the  internal  structure  indicated 
is  an  universal  one.  Let  us,  while  guided  by  Prof.  Andrews' 
results,  consider  what  would  probably  be  the  successive 
changes  in  a  condensing  nebulous  spheroid. 

Prof.  Andrews  has  shown  that  for  each  kind  of  gaseoua 
matter  there  is  a  temperature  above  which  no  amount  of 


THE    NEBULAE    HYPOTHESIS.  165 

pressure  can  cause  liquefaction.  The  remark,  made  a  'priori 
in  the  above  extract^  "that  if,  under  increasing  pressure, 
a  gas  retains  all  the  heat  evolved,  its  resisting  force  ia 
absolutely  unlimited",  harmonizes  with  the  inductively- 
reached  result  that  if  the  temperature  is  not  lowered  to  its 
**' critical  point"  a  gas  does  not  liquify,  however  great  the 
force  applied.  At  the  same  time  Prof.  Andrews^  experi- 
ments imply  that,  supposing  the  temperature  to  be  lowered 
to  the  point  at  which  liquefaction  becomes  possible,  then 
liquefaction  will  take  place  where  there  is  first  reached  the 
required  pressure.  What  are  the  corollaries  in  relation  to 
concentrating  nebulous  spheroids  ? 

Assume  a  spheroid  of  such  size  as  will  form  one  of  the 
inferior  planets,  and  consisting  externally  of  a  voluminous, 
cloudy  atmosphere  composed  of  the  less  condensible  ele- 
ments, and  internally  of  metallic  gases :  such  internal 
gases  being  kept  by  convection-currents  at  temperaiures 
not  very  widely  differing.  And  assume  that  continuous 
radiation  has  brought  the  internal  mass  of  metallic  gases 
down  to  the  critical  point  of  the  most  condensible.  May 
we  not  say  that  there  is  a  size  of  the  spheroid  such  that  the 
pressure  will  not  be  gi-eat  enough  to  produce  liquefaction 
at  any  other  place  than  the  centre  ?  oi',  in  other  words, 
that  in  the  process  of  decreasing  temperature  and  increas- 
ing pressure,  the  centre  will  be  the  place  at  which  the 
combined  conditions  of  pressure  and  temperature  will  be 
fii'st  reached  ?  If  so,  liquefaction,  commencing  at  the 
centre,  will  spread  thence  to  the  periphery;  and,  in  virtue 
of  the  law  that  solids  have  higher  melting  points  under 
pressure  than  when  free,  it  may  be  that  solidification  will 
similarly,  at  a  later  stage,  begin  at  the  centre  and  progress 
outwards :  eventually  producing,  in  that  case,  a  state  such 
as  Sir  William  Thomson  alleges  exists  in  the  Earth.  But 
now  suppose  that  instead  of  such  a  spheroid,  we  assume 
one  of,  say,  twenty  or  thirty  times  the  mass;  what  will  then 
happen  ?     Notwithstanding   convection-currents,  the   tern- 


166  THE    NEBULAE    HYPOTHESIS. 

perature  at  tlie  centre  must  always  be  higher  than  else- 
where; and  in  the  process  of  cooling  the  "critical  point" 
of  temperature  will  sooner  be  reached  in  the  outer  parts. 
Though  the  requisite  pressure  will  not  exist  near  the 
Eurface,  there  is  evidently,  in  a  large  spheroid,  a  depth 
below  the  surface  at  which  the  pressure  will  be  great 
enough,  if  the  temperature  is  sufficiently  low.  Hence  it 
is  inferable  that  somewhere  between  centre  and  surface  in 
the  supposed  larger  spheroid,  there  will  arise  that  state 
described  by  Prof.  Andrews,  in  which  "  flickering  strige  " 
of  liquid  float  in  gaseous  matter  of  equal  density.  And  it 
may  be  inferred  that  gradually,  as  the  process  goes  on, 
these  strise  will  become  more  abundant  while  the  gaseous 
interspaces  diminish;  until,  eventually,  the  liquid  becomes 
continuous.  Thus  there  will  result  a  molten  shell  contain- 
ing a  gaseous  nucleus  equally  dense  with  itself  at  their 
surface  of  contact  and  more  dense  at  the  centre — a  molten 
shell  which  will  slov.'ly  thicken  by  additions  to  both  exterior 
and  interior. 

That  a  solid  crust  will  eventually  form  on  this  molten 
shell  may  be  reasonably  concluded.  To  the  demurrer  that 
solidification  cannot  commence  at  the  surface,  because 
the  solids  formed  would  sink,  there  are  two  replies.  The 
first  is  that  various  metals  expand  while  solidifying,  and 
therefore  would  float.  The  second  is  that  since  the  envelope 
of  the  supposed  spheroid  would  consist  of  the  gases  and 
non-metallic  elements,  compounds  of  these  with  the  metals 
and  with  one  another  would  continually  accumulate  on  the 
molten  shell ;  and  the  crust,  consisting  of  oxides,  chlorides, 
sulphurets,  and  the  rest,  having  much  less  specific  gravity 
than  the  molten  shell,  would  be  readily  supported  by  it. 

Clearly  a  planet  thus  constituted  would  be  in  an  unstable 
state.  Always  it  would  remain  liable  to  a  catastrophe 
resulting  from  change  in  its  gaseous  nucleus.  If,  under 
some  condition  of  pressure  and  temperature  eventually 
reached,  the  components  of  this  suddenly  entered  into  one 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  167 

of  those  proto-clieinical  combiiiations  forming  a  new  ele- 
ment, there  might  result  an  explosion  capable  of  shattering 
the  entire  planet,  and  propelling  its  fragments  in  all 
directions  with  high  velocities.  If  the  hypothetical  planet 
between  Jupiter  and  Mars  was  intermediate  in  size  as  in 
position,  it  would  apparently  fulfil  the  conditions  under 
which  such  a  catastrophe  might  occur. 

Note  IV.  The  argument  set  forth  in  the  foregoing  note, 
is  in  part  designed  to  introduce  a  question  which  seems 
to  require  re-consideration — the  origin  of  the  minor  planets 
or  planetoids.  The  hypothesis  of  Olbers,  as  propounded 
by  him,  implied  that  the  disruption  of  the  assumed  planet 
between  Mars  and  Jupiter  had  taken  place  at  no  very 
remote  period  in  the  past ;  and  this  implication  was  shown 
to  be  inadmissible  by  the  discovery  that  there  exists  no  such 
point  of  intersection  of  the  orbits  of  the  planetoids  as  the 
hypothesis  requires.  The  inquiry  whether,  in  the  past, 
there  was  any  nearer  approach  to  a  point  of  intersection 
than  at  present,  having  resulted  in  a  negative,  it  is  held 
that  the  hypothesis  must  be  abandoned.  It  is,  however, 
admitted  that  the  mutual  perturbations  of  the  planetoids 
themselves  would  suffice,  in  the  course  of  some  millions  of 
years,  to  destroy  all  traces  of  a  place  of  intei-section  of  their 
orbits,  if  it  once  existed.  But  if  this  be  admitted  why  need 
the  hypothesis  be  abandoned  ?  Given  such  duration  of  the 
Solar  System  as  is  currently  assumed,  there  seems  no 
reason  why  lapse  of  a  few  millions  of  years  should  present 
any  difficulty.  The  explosion  may  as  well  have  takeu 
place  ten  million  years  ago  as  at  any  more  recent  period. 
And  whoever  grants  this  must  grant  that  the  probability 
of  the  hypothesis  lias  to  be  estimated  from  other  data. 

As  a  preliminary  to  closer  consideration,  let  us  ask  what 

may  be  inferred  from  the  rate  of  discovery  of  the  planetoids, 

and  from  the  sizes  of  those  most  recently  discovered.     la 

1878,  Prof.  Newcomb,  arguing  that  "  the  preponderance  of 

12 


168 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 


evidence  is  on  the  side  of  the  number  and  magnitude  being 
limited  '\  says  that  "  the  newly  discovered  ones  "  "  do  not 
seem,  on  the  average,  to  be  materially  smaller  than  those 
■which  were  discovered  ten  years  ago " ;  and  further  that 
"the  new  ones  will  probably  be  found  to  grow  decidedly 
mre  before  another  hundred  are  discovered  ".  Now,  inspec- 
tion of  the  tables  contained  in  the  just-published  fourth 
edition  of  Chambers'  Descriptive  Astronomy  (vol.  I)  shows 
that  whereas  the  planetoids  discovered  in  1868  (the  year 
Prof.  Newcomb  singles  out  for  comparison)  have  an  average 
magnitude  of  11  "56  those  discovered  last  year  (1888)  have 
an  average  magnitude  of  12"43.  Further,  it  is  observable 
that  though  more  than  ninety  have  been  discovered  since 
Prof.  Newcomb  wrote,  they  have  by  no  means  become 
rare:  the  year  1888  having  added  ten  to  the  list,  and 
having  therefore  maintained  the  average  rate  of  the 
preceding  ten  years.  If,  then,  the  indications  Prof.  New- 
comb  names,  had  they  arisen,  would  have  implied  a  limita- 
tion of  the  number,  these  opposite  indications  imply  that 
the  number  is  unlimited.  The  reasonable  conclusion  appears 
to  be  that  these  minor  planets  are  to  be  counted  not  by 
hundreds  but  by  thousands  ;  that  more  powerful  telescopes 
will  go  on  revealing  still  smaller  ones ;  and  that  additions 
to  the  list  will  cease  only  when  the  smallness  ends  in 
invisibility. 

Commencing  now  to  scrutinize  the  two  hypotheses 
respecting  the  genesis  of  these  multitudinous  bodies,  I  may 
first  remark  concerning  that  of  Laplace,  that  he  might 
possibly  not  have  propounded  it  had  he  known  that  instead 
of  four  such  bodies  there  are  hundreds,  if  not  thousands. 
The  supposition  that  they  resulted  from  the  breaking  up  of 
a  nebulous  ring  into  numerous  small  portions,  instead  of  its 
collapse  into  one  mass,  might  not,  in  such  case,  have 
seemed  to  him  so  probable.  It  would  have  appeared 
etill  less  probable  had  he  been  aware  of  all  that  has  since 
been  discovered  concerning   the  wide    differences   of   the 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  169 

orbits  in  size,  their  various  and  often  great  eccentricities, 
and  their  various  and  often  great  inclinations.  Let  ua 
look  at  these  and  other  incongruous  traits  of  them. 

(1.)  Between  the  greatest  and  least  mean  distances  of  the 
planetoids  there  is  a  space  of  200  millions  of  miles ;  so  that 
the  whole  of  the  Earth^s  orbit  might  be  placed  between  the 
limits  of  the  zone  occnpied,  and  leave  7  millions  of  miles  on 
either  side  :  add  to  which  that  the  widest  excursions  of  the 
planetoids  occupy  a  zone  of  270  millions  of  miles.  Had 
the  rings  from  which  Mercury,  Venus,  and  the  Earth  were 
formed  been  one-sixth  of  the  smaller  width  or  one-ninth  of 
the  greater,  they  would  have  united  :  there  would  have 
been  no  nebulous  rings  at  all,  but  a  continuous  disk.  Nay 
more,  since  one  of  the  planetoids  trenches  upon  the  orbit  of 
Mars,  it  follows  that  the  nebulous  ring  out  of  which  the 
planetoids  were  formed  must  have  overlapped  that  out  of 
which  Mars  was  formed.  How  do  these  implications  consist 
with  the  nebular  hypothesis  ?  (2.)   The  tacit  assumption 

usually  made  is  that  the  different  parts  of  a  nebulous  ring 
have  the  same  angular  velocities.  Though  this  assumption 
may  not  be  strictly  true,  yet  it  seems  scarcely  likely  that 
it  is  so  widely  untrue  as  it  would  be  had  the  inner  part  of 
the  ring  an  angular  velocity  nearly  thrice  that  of  the  outer. 
Yet  this  is  implied.  While  the  period  of  Thule  is  8.8 
years,    the   period    of  Medusa  is   3"1    years.  (3.)    The 

eccentricity  of  Jupiter's  orbit  is  0"04816,  and  the  eccen- 
tricity of  Mars'  orbit  is  0"09311.  Estimated  by  groups 
of  the  first  found  and  last  found  of  the  planetoids,  the 
average  eccentricity  of  the  assemblage  is  about  three 
times  that  of  Jupiter  and  more  than  one  and  a  half  times 
that  of  Mars ;  and  among  the  members  of  the  assemblage 
themselves,  some  have  an  eccentricity  thirty-five  times  that 
of  others.  How  came  this  nebulous  zone,  out  of  which  it 
is  supposed  the  planetoids  arose,  to  have  originated  eccen- 
tricities so  divergent  from  one  another  as  well  as  from  those 
of  the  neighbouring  planets  ?  (4.)  A  like  question  may 


170  THE  NEBULAR  HYPOTHESIS. 

be  asked  respecting  tlie  inclinations  of  tlie  orbits.  The 
average  inclination  of  the  planetoid-orbits  is  four  times 
the  inclination  of  Mars'  orbit  and  six  times  the  inclination 
of  Jupiter's  orbit;  and  among  the  planetoid-orbits  them- 
selves the  inclinations  of  some  are  fifty  times  those  of 
others.  How  are  all  these  differences  to  be  accounted 
for  on  the  hypothesis  of  genesis  from  a  nebulous  ring  ? 
(5.)  Much  greater  becomes  the  difficulty  on  inquiring  how 
these  extremely  unlike  eccentricities  and  inclinations  came 
to  co-exist  before  the  parts  of  the  nebulous  ring  separated, 
and  how  they  survived  after  the  separation.  Were  all  the 
great  eccentricities  displayed  by  the  outermost  members  of 
the  group,  and  the  small  by  the  innermost  members,  and  were 
the  inclinations  so  distributed  that  the  orbits  having  much 
belonged  to  one  part  of  the  group,  and  those  having  little 
to  another  part  of  the  group  ;  the  difiiculty  of  explanation 
might  not  be  insuperable.  But  the  arrangement  is  by  no 
means  this.  The  orbits  are,  to  use  an  expressive  word, 
miscellaneously  jumbled.  Hence,  if  we  go  back  to  the 
nebulous  ring,  there  presents  itself  the  question, — How 
came  each  planetoid-forming  portion  of  nebulous  matter, 
when  it  gathered  itself  together  and  separated,  to  have 
a  motion  round  the  Sun  differing  so  much  from  the  motions 
of  its  neighbours  in  eccentricity  and  inclination  ?  And 
there  presents  itself  the  further  question, — How,  during 
the  time  when  it  was  concentrating  into  a  planetoid,  did  it 
manage  to  jostle  its  way  through  all  the  differently-moving 
like  masses  of  nebulous  matter,  and  yet  to  preserve  its 
individuality  ?  Answers  to  these  questions  are,  it  seems  to 
me,  not  even  imaginable. 

Ti:rii  we  now  to  the  alternative  hj^pothesis.  During  re- 
vision of  the  foregoing  essay,  in  preparation  for  that  edition 
of  the  volume  containing  it  which  was  published  in  1883, 
there  occurred  the  thought  that  some  light  on  the  origin 
of  the  planetoids  ought  to  be  obtained  by  study  of  their 


THE   NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS.  17] 

distributions  and  movements.  If,  as  Olbers  supposed,  they 
resulted  from  the  bursting  of  a  planet  once  revolving  in 
the  region  they  occupy,  the  implications  are  : — first,  that 
the  fragments  must  be  most  abundant  in  the  space 
immediately  about  the  original  orbit,  and  less  abundant  far 
away  from  it;  second,  that  the  large  fragments  must  bo 
relatively  few,  while  of  smaller  fragments  the  numbers  will 
increase  as  the  sizes  decrease ;  third,  that  as  some  among 
the  smaller  fragments  will  be  propelled  further  than  any  of 
the  larger,  the  widest  deviations  in  mean  distance  from  the 
mean  distance  of  the  original  planet,  will  be  presented  by 
the  smallest  members  of  the  assemblage  ;  and  fourth,  that 
the  orbits  differing  most  from  the  rest  in  eccentricity  and 
in  inclination,  will  be  among  those  of  these  smallest 
members.  In  the  fourth  edition  of  Chambers's  Handbook 
of  Descriptive  and  Practical  Astronomy  (the  first  volume  of 
which  has  just  been  issued)  there  is  a  list  of  the  elements 
(extracted  and  adapted  from  the  Berliner  AstronomLsches 
Jahrbuch  for  1890)  of  all  the  small  planets  (281  in  number) 
which  had  been  discovered  up  to  the  end  of  1888. 
The  apparent  brightness,  as  expressed  in  equivalent  star- 
magnitudes,  is  the  only  index  we  have  to  the  probable 
comparative  sizes  of  by  far  the  largest  number  of  the 
planetoids  :  the  exceptions  being  among  those  first  dis- 
covered. Thus  much  premised,  let  us  take  the  above 
points  in  order.  (1)   There  is   a  region   lying  between 

2'50  and  2*80  (in  terms  of  the  Earth's  mean  distance  from 
the  Sun)  where  the  planetoids  are  found  in  maximum 
abundance.  The  mean  between  these  extremes,  2'65,  is 
nearly  the  same  as  the  average  of  the  distances  of  the 
four  largest  and  earliest-known  of  these  bodies,  which 
amounts  to  2'G4.  May  we  not  say  that  the  thick  clustering 
about  tliis  distance  (which  is,  however,  rather  less  tlian 
that  assigned  for  the  original  planet  by  Bode's  empirical 
law),  in  contrast  with  the  wide  scattering  of  the  com- 
pai'atively  few  whose  distances  are  little  more  than  2  or 


172  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

exceed  3,  is  a  foci"  in  accordance  with  the  hypothesis  in 
question?*  (2)  .Any  table  which  gives  the  apparent 
magnitudes  of  tlio  planetoids,  shows  at  once  how  much 
the  number  of  the  smaller  members  of  the  assemblage 
exceeds  that  of  those  which  are  comparatively  large ;  and 
every  succeeding  year  has  emphasized  this  contrast  more 
strongly.  Only  one  of  them  (Vesta)  exceeds  in  brightness 
the  seventh  star-magnitude,  while  one  other  (Ceres)  is 
between  the  seventh  and  eighth,  and  a  third  (Pallas)  is 
above  the  eighth  ;  but  between  the  eighth  and  ninth  there 
are  six;  between  the  ninth  and  tenth,  twenty;  between  the 
tenth  and  eleventh,  fifty-five ;  below  the  eleventh  a  much 
larger  number  is  known,  and  the  number  existing  is 
probably  far  greatei", — a  conclusion  we  cannot  doubt 
when  the  difficulty  of  finding  the  very  faint  members  of 
the  family,  visible  only  in  the  largest  telescopes,  is  con- 
sidered, (o)  Kindred  evidence  is  furnished  if  we  broadly 
contrast  their  mean  distances.  Out  of  the  13  largest  plane- 
toids Avhose  apparent  brightnesses  exceed  that  of  a  star 
of  the  9'5  magnitude,  there  is  not  one  having  a  mean 
distance  that  exceeds  3.  Of  those  having  magnitudes 
at  least  9"5  and  smaller  than  10,  there  are  15 ;  and  of 
these  one  only  has  a  mean  distance  greater  than  3.  Of 
those  between  10  and  10'5  there  are  17;  and  of  these 
also  there  is  one  exceeding  3  in  mean  distance.  In  the 
next  group  there  are  37,  and  of  these  5  have  this  great 
mean  distance.  The  next  group,  48,  contains  12  such; 
the  next,  47,  contains  13  such.  Of  those  of  the  twelfth 
magnitude  and  fainter,  72  planetoids  have  been  discovered, 

*  It  may  here  be  mentioned  (though  the  principal  significance  of  this 
comes  under  the  next  head)  that  the  average  mean  distance  of  the  later-dis- 
covered planetoids  is  somewliat  greater  than  that  of  these  earlier-discovered ; 
amounting  to  2-61  for  Nos.  1  to  35  and  2-80  for  Nos.  211  to  245.  For  this 
observation  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Lynn ;  whose  attention  was  drawn  to  it 
while  revising  for  me  the  statements  contained  in  this  paragraph,  so  as  ta 
include  discoveries  made  since  the  paragraph  was  written. 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESia.  173 

and  of  tliose  of  thora  of  which  the  orbits  have  been 
computed,  no  fewer  ihan  23  have  a  mean  distance 
exceeding  3  in  terms  of  the  Earth's.  It  is  evident  from 
this  how  comparatively  erratic  are  the  fainter  members  of 
the  extensive  family  with  which  we  are  dealing.  ( l)  To 
illustrate  the  next  point,  it  may  be  noted  that  among  the 
planetoids  whose  sizes  have  been  approximately  measured, 
the  orbits  of  the  two  largest,  Vesta  and  Ceres,  have 
eccentricities  falling  between  '05  and  '10,  whilst  the  orbits 
of  the  two  smallest,  Menippe  and  Eva,  have  eccentricities 
falling  between  "20  and  '25,  and  between  '30  and  'So. 
And  then  among  those  more  recently  discovered,  having 
diameters  so  small  that  measurement  of  them  has  not  been 
practicable,  come  the  extremely  erratic  ones, — Hilda  and 
Thule,  which  have  mean  distances  of  3'97  and  4'25 
respectively;  ^thra,  having  an  orbit  so  eccentric  that  it 
cuts  the  orbit  of  Mars  ;  and  Medusa,  which  has  the  smallest 
mean  distance  from  the  Sun  of  any.  (5)  If  the  average 
eccentricities  of  the  orbits  of  the  planetoids  grouped 
according  to  their  decreasing  sizes  are  compared,  no  verj 
definite  results  are  disclosed,  excepting  this,  that  the  eight 
Polyhymnia,  Atalanta,  Eurydice,  -^thra,  Eva,  Andromache, 
Istria,  and  Eudora,  which  have  the  greatest  eccentricities 
(falling  between  '30  and  'o8),  are  all  among  those  of 
smallest  star-magnitudes.  Nor  when  we  consider  the 
inclinations  of  the  orbits  do  we  meet  with  obvious  veri- 
fications ;  since  the  proportion  of  highly-inclined  orbits 
among  the  smaller  planetoids  does  not  appear  to  be  greater 
than  among  the  others.  But  consideration  shows  that 
there  are  two  ways  in  which  these  last  comparisons  are 
vitiated.  One  is  that  the  inclinations  are  measured  from 
the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  instead  of  being  measured  from 
the  plane  of  the  orbit  of  the  hypothetical  planet.  The 
other,  and  more  important  one,  is  that  the  search  for 
planetoids  has  naturally  been  carried  on  in  that  com- 
paratively narrow  zone  within  which  most  of  their  orbits 


174  THE    NEBULAE    HYPOTHESIS. 

fall;  and  that,  consequently,  tliose  having  the  most  highly- 
inclined  orbits  are  the  least  likely  to  have  been  detected, 
especially  if  they  are  at  the  same  time  among  tlie  smallest. 
Moreover,    considering   the    general  relation  between  the 
inclination    of    planetoid   orbits    and    their   eccentricities, 
it  is  probable  that  among  the  orbits  of  these  undetected 
planetoids  are  many  of  the   most   eccentric.     But   while 
recognizing  the  incompleteness  of  the  evidence,  it  seems  to 
me  that  it  goes  far  to  justify  the  hypothesis  of  Olbers,  and 
is  quite  incongruous  with  that  of  Laplace.     And  as  having 
the  same  meanings  let  me  not  omit  the  remarkable  fact 
concerning  the  planetoids  discovered  by  D' Arrest,  that  "  if 
their  orbits  are  figured  under  the  form  of  material  rings, 
these  rings  will  be  found  so  entangled,  that  it  would  be 
possible,  by  means  of  one  among  them  taken  at  hazard,  to 
lift  up  all  the  rest," — a  fact  incongruous  with  Laplace's 
hypothesis,  which  implies  an  approximate  concentricity,  but 
quite  congruous  with  the  hypothesis  of  an  exploded  planet. 
Next  to  be  considered  come  phenomena,  the  bearings  of 
which  on  the  question  before  us  are  scarcely  considered — I 
mean  those  presented  by  meteors  and  shooting  stars.     The 
natures    and    distributions    of    these    harmonize   with    the 
hypothesis   of   an  exploded   planet,  and  I   think  with   no 
other  hypothesis.      The  theory  of   volcanic  origin,  joined 
with  the  remark  that  the  Sun  emits  jets  which  might  propel 
them  with  adequate  velocities,  seems  quite  untenable.    Such 
meteoric  bodies  as  have  descended  to  us,  forbid  absolutely 
the  supposition  of  solar  origin.     Nor  can  they  rationally 
be   ascribed    to    planetary   volcanoes.      Even    were    their 
mineral  characters    appropriate,  which  many  of  them  are 
not  (for  volcanoes  do  not  eject  iron),  no  planetary  volcanoes 
could  propel  them  with  anything  like  the  implied  velocity — 
could  no  more  withstand  the  ti'emendous  force  to  be  assumed 
than  could  a  card-board  gun  the  force  behind  a  rifle  bullet. 
But  that   their   mineral    characters,    various   as   they  are, 
harmonize  with   the    supposition   that   they  were   derived 


THE   NEBULAE  HYPOTHESIS.  175 

from  the  crust  of  a  planet  is  manifest;  and  tliat  the  burst- 
ing of  a  planet  mit^rht  give  to  thera,  and  to  shooting  stars^ 
tho  needful  velocities,  is  a  reasonable  conclusion.  Along 
with  those  larger  fragments  of  the  crust  constituting  the 
known  planetoids,  varying  from  some  200  miles  in  diameter 
to  little  over  a  dozen,  there  would  be  sent  out  still  more 
multitudinous  portions  of  the  crust,  decreasing  in  size  as 
they  increased  in  number.  And  while  there  wonld  thus 
result  such  masses  as  occasionally  fall  through  the  Earth's 
atmosphere  to  its  surface,  tbei'e  would,  in  an  accompanying 
process,  be  an  adequate  cause  for  the  myriads  of  far  smaller 
masses  which,  as  shooting  stars,  are  dissipated  in  passing 
through  the  Earth's  atmosphere.  Let  us  figure  to  ourselves, 
as  well  as  we  may,  the  process  of  explosion. 

Assume  that  the  diameter  of  the  missing  planet  was 
20,000  miles ;  that  its  solid  crusC  was  a  thousand  miles 
thick;  that  under  this  came  a  shell  of  molten  metalh'c 
matter  which  was  another  thousand  miles  thick ;  and  that  the 
space,  16,000  miles  in  diameter,  within  this,  was  occupied  by 
the  equally  dense  mass  of  gases  above  the  "^  critical  point", 
which,  entering  into  a  proto-chemical  combination,  caused 
the  desti'oying  explosion.  The  primary  fissures  in  the  crust 
must  have  been  far  apart — probably  averaging  distances 
between  them  as  great  as  the  thickness  of  the  crust.  Sup- 
posing them  approximately  equidistant,  there  would,  in  the 
eciuatorial  periphery,  be  between  60  and  70  fissures.  By 
the  time  the  primary  fragments  thus  separated  had  been 
heaved  a  mile  outwards,  the  fissures  formed  would  severally 
have,  at  the  surface,  a  width  of  170  odd  yards.  Of  course 
these  great  masses,  as  soon  as  they  moved,  would  them- 
selves begin  to  fall  in  pieces ;  especially  at  their  bounding- 
surfaces.  But  passing  over  the  resulting  complications,  wo 
see  that  when  the  masses  had  been  propelled  10  miles  out- 
wards, the  fissures  between  them  would  be  each  a  mile  wide. 
Notwithstanding  the  enormous  forces  at  work,  an  appreciable 
interval  would  elapse  before  these  vast  portions  of  the  crust 


176  THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

could  be  pat  in  motion  with  any  considerable  velocities. 
Perhaps  the  estimate  will  be  under  the  mark  if  we  assume 
that  it  took  10  seconds  to  propel  them  through  the  first 
mile,  and  that,  by  implication,  at  the  end  of  20  seconds  they 
had  travelled  4  miles,  and  at  the  end  of  30  seconds  9  miles. 
Supposing  this  granted,  let  us  ask  what  would  be  takinjj 
place  in  each  intervening  fissure  a  thousand  miles  deep, 
which,  in  the  space  of  half  a  minute,  had  opened  out  to 
nearly  a  mile  wide,  and  in  the  subsequent  half  minute  to  a 
chasm  approaching  3  miles  in  width.  There  would  first  be 
propelled  through  it  enormous  jets  of  the  molten  metals 
composing  the  internal  liquid  shell ;  and  these  would  part 
into  relatively  small  masses  as  they  were  shot  into  space. 
Presently,  as  the  chasm  opened  to  some  miles  in  width,  the 
molten  metals  would  begin  to  be  followed  by  the  equally 
dense  gaseous  matter  behind,  and  the  two  would  rush  out 
together.  Soon  the  gases,  predominating,  would  carry  with 
them  the  portions  of  the  liquid  shell  continually  collapsing ; 
until  the  blast  became  one  filled  with  millions  of  small 
masses,  billions  of  smaller  masses,  and  trillions  of  drops. 
These  would  be  driven  into  space  in  a  stream,  the  emission 
of  which  would  continue  for  many  seconds  or  even  several 
minutes.  Remembering  the  rate  of  motion  of  the  jets 
emitted  from  the  solar  surface,  and  supposing  that  the 
blasts  produced  by  this  explosion  reached  only  one-tenth 
of  that  rate,  these  myriads  of  small  masses  and  drops  would 
be  propelled  with  planetary  velocities,  and  in  approximately 
the  same  direction.  I  say  approximately,  because  they 
would  be  made  to  deviate  somewhat  by  the  friction  and 
irregularities  of  the  chasm  passed  through,  and  also  by  the 
rotation  of  the  planet.  Observe,  however,  that  though  they 
would  all  have  immense  velocities,  their  velocities  would  not 
be  equal.  During  its  earlier  stages  the  blast  would  be 
considerably  retarded  by  the  resistance  w^hich  the  sides  of 
its  channel  off'ered.  When  this  became  relatively  small  the 
velocity  of  the  blast  would  reach  its  maximum ;  iVom  which 


THE    NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  177 

it  would  decline  when  the  space  for  emission  became  very 
wide,  and  the  pressure  beliind  consequently  less.  Hence 
these  almost  infinitely  numerous  particles  of  planet-spray, 
as  we  might  call  it,  as  well  as  those  formed  by  the  conden- 
sation of  the  metallic  vapours  accompanying  them,  would 
forthwith  begin  to  part  company  :  some  going  rapidly  ia 
advance,  and  others  falling  behind;  until  the  stream  of 
them,  perpetually  elongating,  formed  an  orbit  round  the 
Sun,  or  rather  an  assemblage  of  innumerable  orbits,  separ- 
ating widely  at  aphelion  and  perihelion,  but  approximating 
midway,  where  they  might  fall  within  a  space  of,  say,  some 
two  millions  of  miles,  as  do  the  orbits  of  the  November 
meteors.  At  a  later  stage  of  the  explosion,  when  the  large 
masses,  having  moved  far  outwards,  had  also  fallen  to  pieces 
of  every  size,  from  that  of  Vesta  to  that  of  an  aerolite,  and 
when  the  channels  just  described  had  ceased  to  exist,  the 
contents  of  the  planet  would  disperse  themselves  with  lower 
velocities  and  without  any  unity  of  direction.  Hence  we 
see  causes  alike  for  the  streams  of  shooting  stars,  for  the 
solitary  shooting  stars  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  for  the 
telescopic  shooting  stars  a  score  times  more  numerous. 

Further  significant  evidence  is  furnished  by  the  comets 
of  short  periods.  Of  the  thirteen  constituting  this  group, 
twelve  have  orbits  falling  between  those  of  Mars  and 
Jupiter  :  one  only  having  its  aphelion  beyond  the  orbit  of 
Jupiter.  That  is  to  say,  nearly  all  of  them  frequent  the 
same  region  as  the  planetoids.  By  implication,  they  are 
similarly  associated  in  respect  of  their  periods.  The  periods 
of  the  planetoids  range  from  3.1  to  8.8  years;  and  all  these 
twelve  comets  have  periods  falling  between  these  extremes; 
the  least  being  8.29  and  the  greatest  8.86.  Once  more 
this  family  of  comets,  like  the  planetoids  in  the  zone  they 
occupy  and  like  them  in  their  periods,  are  like  them  also 
in  the  respect  that,  as  Mr.  Lynn  has  pointed  out,  their 
motions  are  all  direct.  How  happens  this  close  kinship — • 
Low  happens  there  to  be  this  family  of  comets  so  much  liko 


178  THE    NKRULAR    HYPOTHESIS. 

the  planetoids  and  so  much  like  one  another,  but  so  unlike 
comets  at  large  ?  The  obvious  suggestion  is  that  they  are 
among  the  products  of  the  explosion  which  originated  the 
planetoids,  the  aerolites,  and  the  streams  of  meteors;  and 
consideration  of  the  probable  circumstances  shows  us  that 
Buch  products  might  be  expected.  If  the  hypothetical 
planet  was  like  its  neighbour  Jupiter  in  having  an  atmo- 
sphere, or  like  its  neighbour  Mars  in  having  water  on  its 
surface,  or  like  both  in  these  respects;  then  these  superficial 
masses  of  liquid,  of  vapour,  and  of  gas,  blown  into  space  along 
with  the  solid  matters,  would  yield  the  materials  for  comets. 
There  would  result,  too,  comets  unlike  one  another  in  con- 
stitution. If  a  fissure  opened  beneath  one  of  the  seas,  the 
molten  metals  and  metallic  gases  rushing  through  it  as 
above  described,  would  decompose  part  of  the  water  carried 
with  them ;  and  the  oxygen  and  hydrogen  liberated  would 
be  mingled  with  undecomposed  vapour.  In  other  cases, 
portions  of  the  atmosphere  might  be  propelled,  probably 
with  portions  of  vapour ;  and  in  yet  other  cases  masses  of 
water  alone.  Severally  subject  to  great  heat  at  perihelion, 
these  would  behave  more  or  less  differently.  Once  more, 
it  would  ordinarily  happen  that  detached  swarms  of  meteors 
projected  as  implied,  would  carry  with  them  masses  of 
vapours  and  gases ;  whence  would  result  the  cometic  con- 
stitution now  insisted  on.  And  sometimes  there  would  be 
like  accompaniments  to  meteoric  streams. 

See,  then,  the  contrast  between  the  two  hypotheses. 
That  of  Laplace,  looking  probable  while  there  were  only 
four  planetoids,  but  decreasing  in  apparent  likelihood  as  the 
planetoids  increase  in  number,  until,  as  they  pass  through 
the  hundreds  on  their  way  to  the  thousands,  it  becomes 
obviously  improbable,  is,  at  the  same  time,  otherwise 
objectionable.  It  pre-supposes  a  nebulous  ring  of  a  width  so 
enormous  that  it  would  have  overlapped  the  ring  of  Ma^rs. 
This  ring  would  have  had  differences  between  the  angular 
velocities  of  its  parts  quite  inconsistent  with  the  Nebular 


THE    NEBULAE   HYPOTHESIS.  179 

Hypothesis.  The  average  eccentricities  of  the  orbits  of  its 
parts  must  have  differed  greatly  from  those  of  adjacent 
orbits;  and  the  average  inclinations  of  the  orbits  of  its  parts 
must  similarly  have  differed  greatly  from  those  of  adjacent 
orbits.  Once  more,  the  orbits  of  its  parts,  confusedly 
interspersed,  must  have  had  varieties  of  eccentricity  and 
inclination  unaccountable  in  portions  of  the  same  nebulous 
ring ;  and,  during  concentration  into  planetoids,  each  must 
have  had  to  maintain  its  course  while  struggling  through 
the  assemblage  of  other  small  nebulous  masses,  severally 
moving  in  ways  unlike  its  own.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
hypothesis  of  an  exploded  planet  is  supported  by  every 
increase  in  the  number  of  planetoids  discovered;  by  the 
greater  numbers  of  the  smaller  sizes;  by  the  thickei* 
clustering  near  the  inferred  place  of  the  missing  planet ; 
by  the  occurrence  of  the  greatest  mean  distances  among  thej 
smallest  members  of  the  assemblage ;  by  the  occurrence  of 
the  greatest  eccentricities  in  the  orbits  of  these  smallest 
members;  and  by  the  entanglement  of  all  the  orbits. 
Further  support  for  the  hypothesis  is  yielded  by  aerolites, 
BO  various  in  their  kinds,  but  all  suggestive  of  a  planet's 
crust ;  by  the  streams  of  shooting  stars  having  their  radiant 
points  variously  placed  in  the  heavens;  and  also  by  the 
solitary  shooting  stars  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  the  more 
numerous  ones  visible  through  telescopes.  Once  more,  it 
harmonizes  with  the  discovery  of  a  family  of  comets,  twelve 
out  of  thirteen  of  which  have  mean  distances  falling  within 
the  zone  of  the  planetoids,  have  similarly  associated  periods, 
have  all  the  same  direct  motions,  and  are  connected  with 
swarms  of  meteors  and  with  meteoric  streams.  May  we 
not,  indeed,  say,  that  if  there  once  existed  a  planet  between 
Mars  and  Jupiter  which  burst,  the  explosion  must  have 
produced  just  such  clusters  of  bodies  and  classes  of 
phenomena  as  we  actually  find  ? 

And  M'hat  is  the   objection  ?     Merely  that   if    such    an 
explosion  occurred  it  must  have  occurred  many  millions  of 


180  THE    NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS. 

years  ago — an  objection  which  is  in  fact  no  objection ;  for 
the  supposition  that  the  explosion  occurred  many  millions 
of  years  ago  is  just  as  reasonable  as  the  supposition  that  it 
occurred  recently. 

It  is,  indeed,  further  objected  that  some  of  the  resulting 
fragments  ought  to  have  retrograde  motions.  It  turns  out 
on  calculation,  however,  that  this  is  not  the  case.  Assuming 
as  true  the  velocity  which  Lagrange  estimated  would  have 
sufficed  to  give  the  four  chief  planetoids  the  positions  they 
occupy,  it  results  that  such  a  velocity,  given  to  the  frag- 
ments which  were  propelled  backwards  by  the  explosion, 
would  not  have  given  them  retrograde  motions,  but  would 
simply  have  reduced  their  direct  motions  from  something 
over  11  miles  per  second  to  about  6  miles  per  second.  It 
is,  however,  manifest  that  this  reduction  of  velocity  would 
have  necessitated  the  formation  of  highly-elliptic  orbits- 
more  elliptic  than  any  of  those  at  present  known.  This 
seems  to  me  the  most  serious  difficulty  which  has  presented 
itself.  Still,  considering  that  there  remain  probably  an 
immense  number  of  planetoids  to  be  discovered,  it  is  quite 
possible  that  among  these  there  may  be  some  having  orbits 
answering  to  the  requirement. 

Note  V.  Shortly  before  I  commenced  the  revision  of 
the  foregoing  essay,  friends  on  two  occasions  named  to  me 
some  remarkable  photographs  of  nebulse  recently  obtained 
by  Mr.  Isaac  Roberts,  and  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Astro- 
nomical Society :  saying  that  they  presented  appearances 
such  as  might  have  been  sketched  by  Laplace  in  illustration 
of  his  hypothesis.  Mr.  Roberts  has  been  kind  enough  to 
send  me  copies  of  the  photographs  in  question  and  sundry 
others  illustrative  of  stellar  evolution.  Those  representing 
the  Great  Nebulie  in  Andromeda  and  Canum  Venaticorum 
as  Avell  as  81  Messier  are  at  once  impressive  and  instructive 
■ — illustrating  as  they  do  the  genesis  of  nebulous  ringa 
round  a  central  mass. 


THE    NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS. 


181 


I  may  remark,  however,  that  they  seem  to  suggest  the 
need  for  some  modification  of  the  current  conception  j 
since  they  make  it  tolerably  clear  that  the  process  is  a 
much  less  uniform  one  than  is  supposed.  The  usual  idea  is 
that  a  vast  rotating  nebulous  spheroid  arises  before  there 
are  produced  any  of  the  planet-forming  rings.  But  both 
of  these  photographs  apparently  imply  that,  in  some  cases 
at  any  rate,  the  portions  of  nebulous  matter  composing  the 
rings  take  shape  before  they  reach  the  central  mass.  It 
looks  as  though  these  partially-formed  annuli  must  be 
prevented  by  their  acquired  motions  from  approaching 
even  very  near  to  the  still -irregular  body  they  surround. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  however,  and  be  the  dimensions  of  the 
incipient  systems  what  they  may  (and  it  would  seem  to  be 
a  necessary  implication  that  they  are  vastly  larger  than  our 
Solar  System)^  the  process  remains  essentially  the  same. 
Practically  demonstrated  as  this  process  now  is,  we  may 
say  that  the  doctrine  of  nebular  genesis  passes  from  the 
region  of  hypothesis  into  the  region  of  established  truth. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   SUN. 

[First  published  in  The  Reader  for  February  25,  1865.  1 
reproduce  this  essay  chiefly  to  give  a  place  to  the  speculation 
concerning  the  solar  spots  which  forms  the  latter  portion  of  it^ 

The  hypothesis  of  M.  Faye,  described  in  your  numbers 
for  January  28  and  February  4,  respectively,  is  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  coincident  with  one  which  I  ventured  to 
sug-oest  in  an  article  on  "  Recent  Astronomy  and  the  Nebular 
Hypothesis,"  published  in  the  Westminster  Review  for  July, 
1858.  In  considering  the  possible  causes  of  the  immense 
diflerences  of  specific  gravity  among  the  planets,  I  was  led 
to  question  the  validity  of  the  tacit  assumption  that  each 
planet  consists  of  solid  or  liquid  matter  from  centre  to 
surface.  It  seemed  to  me  that  any  other  internal  structure 
which  was  mechanically  stable,  might  be  assumed  with 
equal  legitimacy.  And  the  hypothesis  of  a  solid  or  liquid 
shell,  having  its  cavity  filled  with  gaseous  matter  at  high 
pressure  and  temperature  [and  of  great  density],  was  one 
which  seemed  worth  considering. 

Hence  arose  the  inquiry — What  structure  will  result  from 
the  process  of  nebular  condensation  ?  [Here  followed  a 
long  speculation  respecting  the  processes  going  on  in  a 
concentrating  nebulous  spheroid ;  the  general  outcome  of 
which  is  implied  in  Note  III  of  the  foregoing  essay.  I  do 
not  reproduce  it  because,  not  having  the  guidance  of  Prof. 
Andrew's  researches,  I  had  concluded  that  the  formation  of 
a  molten  shell  would  occur  universally,  instead  of  occasion- 


THE    CONSTITUTION   OF    THE    SUN.  183 

ally,  as  is  now  argued  in  ilie  note  named.  The  essay  then 
proceeded  thus  : — ] 

The  process  of  condensation  being  in  its  essentials  the 
same  for  all  concentrating  nebular  spheroids,  planetary  or 
solar,  it  was  argued  that  the  Sun  is  still  passing  through 
that  incandescent  stage  which  all  the  planets  have  long 
ago  passed  through  :  his  later  aggregation,  joined  with  the 
immensely  greater  ratio  of  his  mass  to  his  surface,  involv- 
ing comparative  lateness  of  cooling.  Supposing  the  sun 
to  have  reached  the  state  of  a  molten  shell,  inclosing  a 
gaseous  nucleus,  it  was  concluded  that  this  molten  shell, 
ever  radiating  its  heat,  but  over  acquiring  fresh  heat  by 
further  integration  of  the  Sun's  mass,  must  be  constantly  kept 
up  to  that  temperature  at  which  its  substance  evaporates. 

[Here  followed  part  of  the  paragraph  quoted  in  the 
preceding  essay  on  p.  155;  and  there  succeeded,  in  subse- 
quent editions,  a  paragraph  aiming  to  show  that  the  inferred 
structure  of  the  Sun's  interior  was  congruous  with  the  low 
specific  gravity  of  the  Sun — a  conclusion  which,  as  in- 
dicated on  p.  15G,  implies  some  very  problematical  assump- 
tions respecting  the  natures  of  the  unknown  elements  of 
the  Sun.     There  then  came  this  passage  : — ] 

The  conception  of  the  Sun's  constitution  thus  set  forth, 
is  like  that  of  M.  Faye  in  so  far  as  the  successive  changes, 
the  resulting  structures,  and  the  ultimate  state,  are  con- 
cerned ;  but  unlike  it  in  so  far  as  the  Sun  is  supposed  to 
have  reached  a  later  stage  of  concentration.  As  I  gather 
from  your  abstract  of  M.  Faye's  paper  [this  referred  to  an 
article  in  The  Beadcr~\,  he  considers  the  Sun  to  be  at  present 
a  gaseous  spheroid,  having  an  envelope  of  metallic  matters 
precipitated  in  the  shape  of  luminous  clouds,  the  local  dis- 
persions of  which,  caused  by  currents  from  within,  appear 
to  us  as  spots ;  and  ho  looks  forward  to  the  future  forma- 
tion of  a  liquid  film  as  an  event  that  will  soon  be  followed 
by  extinction.  Whereas  the  above  hypothesis  is  that  the 
liquid  film  already  exists  beneath  the  visible  photosphere, 
13 


184  THE    CONSTITUTION    OF   THE    SUN. 

and  that  extinction  cannot  result  until,  in  the  course  of 
further  aggregation,  the  gaseous  nucleus  has  become  ao 
much  reduced,  and  the  shell  so  much  thickened,  that  the 
escape  of  the  heat  generated  is  greatly  retarded.  .  .  . 
M.  Faye's  hypothesis  appears  to  be  espoused  by  him,  partly 
because  it  affords  an  explanation  of  the  spots,  which  are 
considered  as  openings  in  the  photosphere,  exposing  the 
comparatively  non-luminous  gases  filling  the  interior.  But 
if  these  interior  gases  are  non-luminous  from  the  absence 
of  precipitated  matter,  must  they  not  for  the  same  reason 
be  transparent  ?  And  if  transparent,  will  not  the  light 
from  the  remote  side  of  the  photosphere  seen  through  them, 
be  nearly  as  bright  as  that  of  the  side  next  to  us  ?  By  as 
much  as  the  intensely-heated  gases  of  the  interior  are  dis- 
abled by  the  dissociation  of  their  molecules  from  giving  off 
luminiferous  undulations,  by  so  much  must  they  be  disabled 
from  absorbing  the  light  transmitted  through  them.  And 
if  their  great  light-transmitting  power  is  exactly  comple- 
mentary to  their  small  light-emitting  power,  there  seems  no 
reason  why  the  interior  of  the  Sun,  disclosed  to  us  by 
openings  in  the  photosphere,  should  not  appear  as  bright 
as  its  exterior. 

Take,  on  the  other  hand,  the  supposition  that  a  more 
advanced  state  of  concentration  has  been  reached.  A  shell 
of  molten  metallic  matter  enclosing  a  gaseous  nucleus  still 
higher  in  temperature  than  itself,  will  be  continually  kept 
at  the  highest  temperature  consistent  with  its  state  of  liquid 
ao-gregation.  Unless  we  assume  that  simple  radiation 
suffices  to  give  oS  all  the  heat  generated  by  progressing 
integration,  we  must  conclude  that  the  mass  will  be  raised 
to  that  temperature  at  which  part  of  its  heat  is  absorbed  in 
vaporizing  its  superficial  parts.  The  atmosphere  of  metallic 
gases  hence  resulting,  cannot  continue  to  accumulate  with- 
out reaching  a  height  above  the  Sun's  surface,  at  which 
the  cooling  due  to  radiation  and  rarefaction  will  cause  con- 
densation into  cloud — cannot,  indeed,  cease  accumulating 


THE    CONSTITUTION    OP   THE    SUN.  185 

until  tlie  precipitation  from  tlie  upper  limit  of  the  atmo- 
sphere balances  the  evaporation  from  its  lower  limit.  This 
upper  limit  of  the  atmosphere  of  metallic  gases,  whence 
precipitation  is  perpetually  taking  place,  will  form  the 
visible  photosphere — partly  giving  off  light  of  its  own, 
partly  letting  through  the  more  brilliant  light  of  the 
incandescent  mass  below.  This  conclusion  harmonizes  with 
the  appearances.  Sir  John  Herschel,  advocating  though 
he  does  an  antagonist  hypothesis,  gives  a  description  of  the 
Sun's  surface  which  agrees  completely  with  the  processes 
here  supposed.     He  says  : — 

"  There  is  nothing  which  represents  so  faithfully  this  appearance  as  the 
slow  subsidence  of  some  flocculent  chemical  precipitates  in  a  transparent 
liuid,  when  viewed  perpendicularly  from  above  :  so  faithfully,  indeed,  that  it 
is  hardly  possible  not  to  be  impressed  with  the  idea  of  a  luminous  medium 
intermixed,  but  not  confounded,  with  a  transparent  and  non-luminous 
atmosphere,  either  lloating  as  clouds  in  our  air,  or  pervading  it  in  vast  sheets 
and  columns  like  flame,  or  the  streamers  of  our  northern  lights". — Treatise 
on  Astronomy,  p.  208. 

If  the  constitution  of  the  Sun  be  that  which  is  above 
inferred,  it  does  not  seem  difficult  to  conceive  still  more 
specifically  the  production  of  these  appearances.  Every- 
where throughout  the  atmosphere  of  metallic  vapours  which 
clothes  the  solar  surface,  there  must  be  ascending  and 
descending  currents.  The  magnitude  of  these  currents  must 
obviously  depend  on  the  depth  of  this  atmosphere.  If  it  is 
shallow,  the  currents  must  be  small ;  but  if  many  thousands 
of  miles  deep,  the  currents  may  be  wide  enoitgh  to  render 
visible  to  us  the  places  at  which  they  severally  impinge  on 
the  limit  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  places  whence  the 
descending  currents  commence.  The  top  of  an  ascending 
current;  will  be  a  space  over  which  the  thickness  of  con- 
densed cloud  is  the  least,  and  through  which  the  greatest 
amount  of  light  from  beneath  penetrates.  The  clouds 
perpetually  formed  at  the  top  of  such  a  current,  will  be  per- 
petually thrust  aside  by  the  uncondensed  gases  from  below 
them;  and,  growing  while  they  are  thrust  aside,  will  collect 


186  THE    CONSTITUTION    OP   THE    SUN. 

in  the  spaces  between  the  ascending  currents,  where  there 
will  result  the  greatest  degree  of  opacity.  Hence  the 
mottled  appearance — ^hence  the  "pores/'  or  dark  inter- 
Bpaces,  separating  the  light-giving  spots."^ 

Of  the  more  special  appearances  which  the  photosphere 
presents,  let  us  take  first  the  facula?.  These  are  ascribed 
to  waves  in  the  photosphere ;  and  the  way  in  which  such 
waves  might  produce  an  excess  of  light  has  been  vai*iously 
explained  in  conformity  with  various  hypotheses.  What 
would  result  from  them  in  a  photosphere  constituted  and 
conditioned  as  above  supposed  ?  Traversing  a  canopy  of 
cloud,  here  thicker  and  there  thinner,  a  wave  would  cause 
a  disturbance  very  unlikely  to  leave  the  thin  and  thick 
parts  without  any  change  in  their  average  permeability  to 
light.  There  would  probably  be,  at  some  parts  of  the 
wave,  extensions  in  the  areas  of  the  light-transmitting 
clouds,  resulting'  in  the  passage  of  more  rays  from  below. 
Another  phenomenon,  less  common  but  more  striking, 
appears  also  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  hypothesis.  1 
refer  to  those  bright  spots,  of  a  brilliancy  greater  than  that 
of  the  photosphere,  which  are  sometimes  observed.  In  the 
course  of  a  physical  process  so  vast  and  so  active  as  that 
here  supposed  to  be  going  on  in  the  Sun,  we  may  expect 
that  concurrent  causes  will  occasionally  produce  ascending 
currents  much  hotter  than  usual,  or  more  voluminous,  or 
both.  One  of  these,  on  reaching  the  stratum  of  luminous 
and  illuminated  cloud  forming  the  photosphere,  will  burst 
through  it,  dispersing  and  dissolving  it,  and  ascending  to  a 
greater  height  before  it  begins  itself  to  condense  :  mean- 

*  If  the  "  rice-grain  "  appearance  is  thus  produced  by  the  tops  of  ihe 
ascending  currents  (and  M.  Faye  accepts  this  interpretation),  then  I  think 
it  excUides  M.  Faye's  liypotliesis  that  the  Sun  is  gaseous  throughout.  The 
comparative  smaUness  of  the  light-giving  spots  and  their  comparative 
uniformity  of  size,  sliow  us  that  ihey  have  ascended  through  a  stratum  of  but 
moderate  depth  (say  10,000  miles),  and  that  tins  stratum  has  a  'lejivitelowes 
limiL     This  favours  the  hypothesis  of  a  molten  shell. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   OP   THE    SUN.  187 

•while  allowing"  to  be  seen,  througli  its  transparent  mass, 
the  incandescent  molten  bliell  of  the  sun's  body. 

[The  foregoing  passages,  to  most  of  which  I  do  not  commit 
myself  as  more  than  possibilities,  I  republish  chiefly  as 
introductory  to  the  following  speculation,  which,  since  it 
was  propounded  in  18G5,  has  met  with  some  acceptance.] 

"  But  what  of  the  spots  commonly  so  called?"  it  will  be 
asked.  In  the  essay  on  the  Nebular  hypothesis,  above 
quoted  from,  it  was  suggested  that  refraction  of  the  light 
passing  through  the  depressed  centres  of  cyclones  in  this 
atmosphere  of  metallic  gases,  might  possibly  be  the  cause; 
but  this,  though  defensible  as  a  "  true  cause,"  appeared  on 
further  consideration  to  be  an  inadequate  cause.  Keeping 
the  question  in  mind,  however,  and  still  taking  as  a  pos- 
tulate the  conclusion  of  Sir  John  Herschel,  that  the  spots 
are  in  some  way  produced  by  cyclones,  I  was  led,  in  the 
course  of  the  year  following  the  publication  of  the  essay, 
to  an  hypothesis  which  seemed  more  satisfactory.  This, 
which  I  named  at  the  time  to  Prof.  Tyndall,  had  a  point 
in  common  with  the  one  afterward  published  by  Prof. 
Kirchhoff,  in  so  far  as  it  supposed  cloud  to  be  the  cause  of 
darkness  ;  but  differed  in  so  far  as  it  assigned  the  cause  of 
euch  cloud.  More  pressing  matters  prevented  me  from 
developing  the  idea  for  some  time ;  and,  afterwards,  I  was 
deterred  from  including  it  in  the  revised  edition  of  the 
essay,  by  its  inconsistency  with  the  "  willow-leaf  "  doctrine, 
at  that  time  dominant.  The  reasoning  was  as  follows  : — 
The  central  region  of  a  cyclone  must  be  a  region  of 
rarefaction,  and,  consequently,  a  region  of  refrigeration. 
In  an  atmosphere  of  metallic  gases  rising  from  a  molten 
surface,  and  presently  reaching  a  limit  at  which  condensa- 
tion takes  place,  the  molecular  state,  especially  toward  its 
upper  part,  must  be  sftcli  that  a  moderate  diminution  of 
density,  and  fall  of  temperature,  will  cause  precipitation. 
That  is  to  say,  the  rarefied  interior  of  a  solar  cyclone  will 
be  tilled  with  cloud  :  condensation,  instead  of  taking  pLice 


188  THE    CONSTITUTION    OP   THE    SUN"* 

only  at  fhe  level  of  the  photosphere,  will  here  extend  to  a 
great  depth  below  it,  and  over  a  v\ide  area.  Vv'^hat  will  be 
the  characters  of  a  cloud  thus  occupying  the  interior  of  a 
cyclone  ?  It  will  have  a  rotatory  motion ;  and  this  it  has 
been  seen  to  have.  Being  funnel-shaped,  as  analogy  war- 
rants us  in  assuming,  its  central  parts  will  be  much  deeper 
than  its  peripheral  parts,  and  therefore  more  opaque. 
This,  too,  corresponds  with  observation.  Mr.  Dawes  ha3 
discovered  that  in  the  middle  of  the  spot  there  is  a  blacker 
spot :  just  where  there  would  exist  a  funnel-shaped  pro- 
longation of  the  cyclonic  cloud  down  toward  the  Sun's 
body,  the  darkness  is  greater  than  elsewhere.  Moreover, 
there  is  furnished  an  adequate  reason  for  the  depression 
which  one  of  these  dark  spaces  exhibits.  In  a  whirlwind, 
as  in  a  whirlpool,  the  vortex  will  be  below  the  general 
level,  and  all  around,  the  surface  of  the  medium  will  de- 
scend toward  it.  Hence  a  spot  seen  obliquely,  as  when 
carried  toward  the  Sun's  limb,  will  have  its  umbra  more 
and  more  hidden,  while  its  penumbra  still  remains  visible. 
Nor  are  we  without  some  interpretation  of  the  penumbra. 
If,  as  is  implied  by  what  has  been  said,  the  so-called  "  wil- 
low-leaves," or  "  rice-gi'ains,"  are  the  tops  of  the  currents 
ascending  from  the  Sun's  body,  what  changes  of  appear- 
ance are  they  likely  to  undergo  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
a  cyclone  ?  For  some  distance  round  a  cyclone  there  will 
be  a  drawing  in  of  the  superficial  gases  toward  the  vortex. 
All  the  luminous  spaces  of  more  transparent  cloud  forming 
the  adjacent  photosphere,  will  be  changed  in  shape  by 
these  centripetal  currents.  They  will  be  greatly  elongated; 
and  there  will  so  be  produced  that  "  thatch  "-like  aspect 
which  the  penumbra  presents. 


[The  explanation  of  the  solar  spots  above  suggested, 
which  was  originally  propounded  in  opposition  to  that  of 
M.  Faye_,  was  eventually  adopted  by  him  in  place  of  his 


THE   CONSTITUTION   OP  THE    SON.  189 

own.  In  the  Comptes  Bendusior  1867,  Vol.  LXIV.,  p.  404, 
he  refers  to  the  article  in  the  Reader,  partly  reproduced 
above,  and  speaks  of  me  as  having  been  replied  to  in  a 
previous  note.  Again  in  the  Comptes  Rendus  for  1872, 
Vol.  LXXV.,  p.  1664,  he  recognizes  the  inadequacy  of  hia 
hypothesis,  saying  : — "  II  est  certain  que  I'objection  do 
M.  Spencer,  reproduit  et  developpee  par  M.  Kircholf,  est 
fondee  jusqu'a  un  certain  point;  Finterieur  des  taches,  si  ce 
sont  des  lacunes  dans  la  photosphere,  doit  etre  froid  rela- 
tivement.  ...  II  est  done  impossible  qu'elles  proviennent 
d'eruptions  ascendantes."  He  then  proceeds  to  set  forth 
the  hypothesis  that  the  spots  are  caused  by  the  precipita- 
tion of  vapour  in  the  interiors  of  cyclones.  Bub  though, 
as  above  shown,  he  refers  to  the  objection  made  in  the 
foregoing  essay  to  his  original  hypothesis,  and  recognizes 
its  cogency,  he  does  not  say  that  the  hypothesis  which  he 
thereupon  substitutes  is  also  to  be  found  in  the  foregoing 
essay.  Nor  does  he  intimate  this  in  the  elaborate  paper  on 
the  subject  read  before  the  French  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  and  published  in  the  Revue 
Sclentifique  for  the  24th  March  1883.  The  result  is  that 
the  hypothesis  is  now  currently  ascribed  to  him.* 

About  four  months  before  I  had  to  revise  this  essay  on 
**  The  Constitution  of  the  Sun,''  while  staying  near  Pewsey, 

*  I  should  add  that  while  M.  Faye  ascribes  solar  spots  to  clouds 
formed  within  cyclones,  we  differ  concerning  the  nature  of  the  cloud.  I 
have  argued  that  it  is  formed  by  rarefaction,  and  consequent  refrigeration, 
of  the  metallic  gases  constituting  the  stratum  in  which  the  cyclone  exists, 
lie  argues  that  it  is  formed  within  the  mass  of  cooled  hydrogen  drawn  from 
the  chromosphere  into  the  vortex  of  the  cyclone.  Speaking  of  the  cyclones 
he  says : — "  Dans  leur  embouchure  6vasee  ils  entraineront  I'hydrogene  froid 
de  la  chromosph(^re,  produisant  partout  sur  leur  trajet  vertical  un  abaisse- 
mcnt  notable  de  temperature  et  une  obscurite  relative,  due  a  I'opacite  da 
I'hydrogene  froid  englouti."  {Revue  Scientijique,  2i  March  1883.)  Con- 
sidering  the  intense  cold  required  to  reduce  hydrogen  to  the  "  critical 
point,"  it  is  a  strong  supposition  that  the  motion  given  to  it  by  fluid 
friction  on  entering  the  vortex  of  the  cyclone,  can  produce  a  rotation,  rare- 
faction, and  cooling,  great  enough  to  produce  precipitation  io  a  region  BO 
iutensely  heated. 


190  THE    CONSTITUTION    OP   THE    SUN. 

in  Wiltshire,  I  v/ns  fortunate  enough  to  witness  a  phenome- 
non which  furnished,  by  analogy,  a  verification  of  the  above 
hypothesis,  and  served  more  especially  to  elucidate  one  of 
the  traits  of  solar  spots,  otherwise  difficult  to  understand. 
It  was  at  the  close  of  August,  when  there  had  been  a  spell 
of  very  hot  weather.  A  slight  current  of  air  from  the  West, 
moving  along  the  line  of  the  valley,  had  persisted  through 
the  day,  which,  up  to  5  o'clock,  had  been  cloudless,  and,  with 
the  exception  now  to  be  named,  remained  cloudless.  The 
exception  was  furnished  by  a  strange-looking  cloud  almost 
directly  overhead.  Its  central  part  was  comparatively 
dense  and  structureless.  Its  peripheral  part,  or  to  speak 
strictly,  the  two-thirds  of  it  which  were  nearest  and  most 
clearly  visible,  consisted  of  convergmg  strealcs  of  compara- 
tively thin  cloud.  Possibly  the  third  part  on  the  remoter 
side  was  similarly  constituted ;  but  this  I  could  not  see. 
It  did  not  occur  to  me  at  the  time  to  think  about  its  cause, 
though,  had  the  question  been  raised,  I  should  doubtless 
have  concluded  that  as  the  sky  still  remained  cloudless 
everywhere  else,  this  precipitated  mass  of  vapour  must  have 
resulted  from  a  local  eddy.  In  the  space  of  perhaps  half- 
an-hour,  the  gentle  breeze  had  carried  this  cloud  some 
miles  to  the  East ;  and  now  its  nature  became  obvious. 
That  central  part  which,  seen  from  underueath,  seemed 
simply  a  dense,  confused  part,  apparently  no  nearer  than  the 
rest,  now,  seen  sideways,  was  obviously  much  lower  than 
the  rest  and  rudely  funnel-shaped — nipple-shaped  one  might 
say ;  while  the  wide  thin  portion  of  cloud  above  it  was 
disk-shaped  :  the  converging  streaks  of  cloud  being  now,  in 
perspective,  merged  together.  It  thus  became  manifest 
that  the  cloud  was  produced  by  a  feeble  whii-lwind,  perhaps 
a  quarter  to  half-a-mile  in  diameter.  Further,  the  appear- 
ances made  it  clear  that  this  feeble  whirlwind  was  limited 
to  the  lower  stratum  of  air  :  the  stratum  of  air  above  it 
was  not  implicated  in  the  cyclonic  action.  And  then,  lastly, 
there  was  the  striking  fact  that  the  upper  stratum,  though 


THE    CONSTITUTION    OP   THE    SUN.  101 

not  involved  in  the  wliirl,  was,  by  its  proximity  to  a  regioa 
of  diminished  pressure,  slightly  rarified ;  and  that  its  pre- 
cipitated vapour  was,  by  the  draught  set  up  towards  tho 
vortex  below,  drawn  into  converging  streaks.  Here,  then, 
was  an  action  analogous  to  that  which,  as  above  suggested, 
happens  around  a  sun-spot,  where  the  masses  of  illu- 
minated vapour  constituting  the  photosphere  are  drawn 
towards  the  vortex  of  the  cyclone,  and  simultaneously  elon- 
gated into  striee  :  so  forming  the  penumbra.  At  the  same 
time  there  was  furnished  an  answer  to  the  chief  objectioa 
to  the  cyclonic  theory  of  solar  spots.  For  if,  as  here  seen, 
a  cyclone  in  a  lower  stratum  may  fail  to  communicate  a 
vortical  motion  to  the  stratum  above  it,  we  may  comprehend 
how,  in  a  solar  cyclone,  the  photosphere  commonly  fails  to 
give  any  indication  of  the  revolving  currents  below,  and  ia 
only  occasionally  so  entangled  in  these  currents  as  itself  to 
display  a  vortical  motion. 

Let  me  add  that  apart  from  the  elucidations  furnished 
by  the  phenomenon  above  described,  the  probabilities  are 
greatly  in  favour  of  the  cyclonic  origin  of  the  solar  spots. 
That  some  of  them  exhibit  clear  marks  of  vortical  motion 
is  undeniable  ;  and  if  this  is  so,  the  question  arises — What 
is  the  degree  of  likelihood  that  there  are  two  causes  for 
spots  ?  Considering  that  they  have  so  many  characters  in 
common,  it  is  extremely  improbable  that  their  common 
characters  are  in  some  cases  the  concomitants  of  vortical 
motion  and  in  other  cases  the  concomitants  of  a  different 
kind  of  action.  Recognizing  this  great  improbability,  even 
in  the  absence  of  a  reconciliation  between  the  apparently 
conflicting  traits,  it  is,  I  think,  clear  that  when,  iu  tho  way 
above  shown,  we  are  enabled  to  understand  how  it  happens 
that  the  vortical  motion,  not  ordinarily  implicating  tho 
photosphere,  may  consequently  be  in  most  cases  unapparent, 
the  reasons  for  accepting  the  cyclonic  theory  become 
almost  conclusive.] 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY. 

[First  'pulUslied  in  The  Universal  Review /or  July,  1859,] 

That  proclivity  to  generalization  wliich  is  possessed  in 
greater  or  less  degree  by  all  minds,  and  without  which, 
indeed,  intelligence  cannot  exist,  has  unavoidable  incon- 
veniences. Through  it  alone  can  truth  be  reached;  and 
yet  it  almost  inevitably  betrays  into  error.  But  for  the 
tendency  to  predicate  of  every  other  case,  that  which  has 
teen  found  in  the  observed  cases,  there  could  be  no  rational 
thinking;  and  yet  by  this  indispensable  tendency,  men  are 
perpetually  led  to  found,  on  limited  experience,  propositions 
which  they  wrongly  assume  to  be  universal  or  absolute.  In 
one  sense,  however,  this  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  an 
evil;  for  without  premature  generalizations  the  true 
generalization  would  never  be  arrived  at.  If  we  waited 
till  all  the  facts  were  accumulated  before  trying  to  formulate 
them,  the  vast  unorganized  mass  would  be  unmanageable. 
Only  by  provisional  grouping  can  they  be  brought  into 
such  order  as  to  be  dealt  with ;  and  this  provisional  group- 
ing is  but  another  name  for  premature  generalization. 
How  uniformly  men  follow  this  course,  and  how  needful 
the  errors  are  as  steps  to  truth,  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
history  of  Astronomy.  The  heavenly  bodies  move  round 
the  Earth  in  circles,  said  the  earliest  observers  :  led  partly 
by  the  appearances,  and  partly  by  their   experiences   of 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  193 

central  motions  in  terrestrial  objects,  with  wliicli,  as  all 
circular,  they  classed  the  celestial  motions  from  lack  of  any 
alternative  conception.  Without  this  provisional  belief, 
wrong  as  it  was,  there  could  not  have  been  that  comparison 
of  positions  which  showed  that  the  motions  are  not  represent- 
able  by  circles ;  and  Avhich  led  to  the  h^'pothesis  of  epicycles 
and  eccentrics.  Only  by  the  aid  of  this  hypothesis,  equally 
untrue,  but  capable  of  accounting  more  nearly  for  the 
appearances,  and  so  of  inducing  more  accurate  observations 
— only  thus  did  it  become  possible  for  Copernicus  to  show 
that  the  heliocentric  theory  is  more  feasible  than  the  geo- 
centric theory ;  or  for  Kepler  to  show  that  the  planets 
move  round  the  sun  in  ellipses.  Yet  again,  without  the 
aid  of  Kepler's  more  advanced  theory  of  the  Solar  system, 
Newton  could  not  have  established  that  general  law  from 
which  it  follows,  that  the  motion  of  a  heavenly  body  is  not 
necessarily  in  an  ellipse,  but  may  be  in  any  conic  section. 
And  lastly,  it  was  only  after  the  laAV  of  gravitation  had 
been  verified,  that  it  became  possible  to  determine  the 
actual  courses  of  planets,  satellites,  and  comets;  and  to 
prove  that,  in  consequence  of  perturbations,  their  orbits 
always  deviate,  more  or  less,  from  regular  curves.  In  these 
successive  theories  we  may  trace  both  the  tendency  men 
have  to  leap  from  scanty  data  to  wide  generalizations,  that 
are  either  untrue  or  but  partially  true ;  and  the  necessity 
there  is  for  such  transitional  generalizations  as  steps  to  tho 
final  one. 

In  the  progress  of  geological  speculation,  the  same  laws 
of  thought  are  displayed.  We  have  dogmas  that  were 
more  than  half  false,  passing  current  for  a  time  as  universal 
truths.  We  have  evidence  collected  in  proof  of  these 
dogmas;  by  and  by  a  colligation  of  facts  in  antagonism 
with  them;  and  eventually  a  consequent  modification.  In 
conformity  with  this  improved  hypothesis,  we  have  a  better 
classification  of  facts;  a  greater  power  of  arranging  aiid 
interpreting  the  new  facta  now  rapidly  gathered  together] 


194  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

and  further  resulting  corrections  of  hypothesis.  Being,  as 
we  are  at  present,  in  the  midst  of  this  process,  it  is  not 
possible  to  give  an  adequate  account  of  the  development  of 
geological  science  as  thus  regarded  :  the  earlier  stages  are 
alone  known  to  us.  Not  only,  however,  is  it  interesting  to 
observe  how  the  more  advanced  views  now  received  respect- 
ing the  Earth's  history,  have  been  evolved  out  of  the  crude 
views  which  preceded  them ;  but  we  shall  find  it  extremely 
instructive  to  observe  this.  We  shall  see  how  greatly  the 
old  ideas  still  sway  both  the  general  mind  and  the  minds 
of  geologists  themselves.  We  shall  see  how  the  kind  of 
evidence  that  has  in  part  abolished  these  old  ideas,  is  still 
daily  accumulating,  and  threatens  to  make  other  like 
revolutions.  In  brief,  we  shall  see  whereabouts  we  are  in 
the  elaboration  of  a  true  theory  of  the  Earth ;  and,  seeing 
our  whereabouts,  shall  be  the  better  able  to  judge,  among 
various  conflicting  opinions,  which  best  conform  to  the 
ascertained  direction  of  geological  discover}'. 

It  is  needless  here  to  enumerate  the  many  speculations 
which  were  in  earlier  ages  propounded  by  acute  men- 
speculations  some  of  which  contained  portions  of  truth. 
Falling  in  unfit  times,  these  speculations  did  not  germinate; 
and  hence  do  not  concern  us.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with 
ideas,  however  good,  out  of  which  no  science  grew;  but 
only  with  those  which  gave  origin  to  the  existing  system  of 
Geology.     We  therefore  begin  with  Werner. 

Taking  for  data  the  appearances  of  the  Earth's  crust  in 
a  narrow  district  of  Germany;  observing  the  constant  order 
of  superposition  of  strata,  and  their  respective  physical 
characters;  Werner  drew  the  inference  that  strata  of  like 
characters  succeeded  each  other  in  like  order  over  the  entire 
surface  of  the  Earth.  And  seeing,  from  the  laminated 
structure  of  many  formations  and  the  organic  remains  con- 
tained in  others,  that  they  were  sedimentary ;  he  further 
inferred  that  these  universal  strata  had  been  in  succession 
precipitated  from  a  chaotic  menstruum  which  ouce  covered 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOCJY.  195 

our  planet.  Thus,  on  a  very  incomplete  acquaintance  with 
a  thousandth  part;  of  the  Earth's  crust,  he  based  a  sweeping 
generalization  applying  to  the  whole  of  it.  This  Neptunisfc 
hypothesis,  mark,  borne  out  though  it  seemed  to  be  by  the 
most  conspicuous  surrounding  facts,  was  quite  untenable 
if  analyzed.  That  a  universal  chaotic  menstruum  should 
deposit  a  series  of  numerous  sharply-defined  strata,  diifer- 
ing  from  one  another  in  composition,  is  incomprehensible. 
That  the  strata  so  deposited  should  contain  the  remains  of 
plants  and  animals,  which  could  not  have  lived  under 
the  supposed  conditions,  is  still  more  incomprehensible. 
Physically  absurd,  however,  as  was  this  hypothesis,  it 
recognized,  though  under  a  distorted  form,  one  of  the  great 
agencies  of  geological  change — the  action  of  water.  It 
served  also  to  express  the  fact,  that  the  formations  of  the 
Earth's  crust  stand  in  some  kind  of  order.  Further,  it  did 
a  little  towards  supplying  a  nomenclature,  without  which 
much  progress  w^as  impossible.  Lastly,  it  furnished  a 
standard  with  which  successions  of  strata  in  various  regions 
could  be  compared,  the  differences  noted,  and  the  actual 
eections  tabulated.  It  was  the  first  provisional  generaliza- 
tion; and  was  useful,  if  not  indispensable,  as  a  step  to 
truer  ones. 

Following  this  rude  conception,  which  ascribed  geological 
phenomena  to  one  agency,  acting  during  one  primeval 
epoch,  there  came  a  greatly-improved  conception,  which, 
ascribed  them  to  two  agencies,  acting  alternately  during 
successive  epochs.  Hutton,  perceiving  that  sedimentary 
deposits  were  still  being  formed  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  from 
the  detritus  carried  down  by  rivers;  perceiving,  further, 
that  the  strata  of  which  the  visible  surface  chiefly  consists, 
bore  marks  of  having  been  similarly  formed  out  of  pre- 
existing land;  and  inferring  that  these  strata  could  have 
become  land  only  by  upheaval  after  their  deposit;  con- 
cluded that  throughout  an  indefinite  past,  there  had  been 
periodic    convulsions,    by    which    coutineuts    were    raised. 


196  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY. 

with  intervening  eras  of  repose,  during  -whicli  such  con- 
tinents  were  worn  down  and  transformed  into  new  marine 
strata,  fated  to  be  in  their  turns  elevated  above  the 
surface  of  the  ocean.  And  finding  that  igneous  action,  to 
which  sundry  earlier  geologists  had  ascribed  basaltic  rocks, 
was  in  countless  places  a  cause  of  disturbance,  he  taught 
that  from  it  resulted  these  periodic  convulsions.  In  this 
theory  we  see : — first,  that  the  previously-recognized  agency 
of  water  was  conceived  to  act,  not  as  by  Werner,  after  a 
manner  of  which  we  have  no  experience,  but  after  a  manner 
daily  displayed  to  us ;  and  secondly,  that  the  ignisous  agency, 
before  considered  only  as  originating  special  formations, 
was  recognized  as  a  universal  agency,  but  assumed  to  act  in 
an  unproved  way.  Werner's  sole  process  Hutton  developed 
from  the  catastrophic  and  inexplicable  into  the  uniform  and 
explicable;  while  that  antagonistic  second  process,  of  which 
he  first  adequately  estimated  the  importance,  was  regarded 
by  him  as  a  catastrophic  one,  and  was  not  assimilated  to 
known  processes — not  explained.  We  have  here  to  note, 
however,  that  the  facts  collected  and  provisionally  arranged 
in  conformity  with  Werner's  theory,  served,  after  a  time,  to 
establish  Button's  more  rational  theory — in  so  far,  at  least, 
as  aqueous  formations  are  concerned;  while  the  doctrine  of 
periodic  subterranean  convulsions,  crudely  as  it  was  con- 
ceived by  Hutton,  was  a  temporary  generalization  needful 
as  a  step  towards  the  theory  of  igneous  action. 

Since  Hutton's  time,  the  development  of  geological 
thought  has  gone  still  further  in  the  same  direction.  These 
early  sweeping  doctrines  have  received  additional  qualifica- 
tions. It  has  been  discovered  that  more  numerous  and 
more  heterogeneous  agencies  have  been  at  work,  than  was 
at  first  believed.  The  conception  of  igneous  action  has 
been  rationalized,  as  the  conception  of  aqueous  action  had 
previously  been.  The  gratuitous  assumption  that  vast  eleva- 
tions suddenly  occurred  after  long  intervals  of  quiescence, 
has  grown  into   the    consistent  theory,  that    islands    and 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  197" 

continents  are  the  accumulated  results  of  successive  small 
upheavals,  like  those  experienced  in  ordinary  earthquakes. 
To  speak  more  specifically,  we  find,  in  the  first  place,  that 
instead  of  assuming  the  denudation  produced  by  rain  and 
rivers  to  be  the  sole  means  of  wearing  down  lands  and  pro- 
ducing their  irregularities  of  surface,  geologists  now  see  that 
denudation  is  only  a  part-cause  of  such  irregularities ;  and 
farther,  that  the  new  strata  deposited  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  are  not  the  products  of  river-sediment  solely,  but  are  in 
part  due  to  the  actions  of  waves  and  tidal  currents  on  the 
coasts.  In  the  second  place,  we  find  that  Hutton's  con- 
ception of  upheaval  by  subterranean  forces,  has  not  only 
been  modified  by  assimilating  these  subterranean  forces  to 
ordinary  earthquake-forces;  but  modern  inquiries  have 
shown  that,  besides  elevations  of  surface,  subsidences  are 
thus  produced;  that  local  upheavals,  as  well  as  the  general 
upheavals  which  raise  continents,  come  within  the  same 
category;  and  that  all  these  changes  are  probably  conse- 
quent on  the  progressive  collapse  of  the  Earth's  crust  upon 
its  cooling  and  contracting  nucleus.  lu  the  third  place, 
we  find  that  beyond  these  two  great  antagonistic  agencies, 
modern  Geology  recognizes  sundry  minor  ones  :  those  of 
glaciers  and  icebergs,  those  of  coral-polypes ;  those  of 
Probzoa  having  siliceous  or  calcareous  shells — each  of  which 
agencies,  insignificant  as  it  seems,  is  found  capable  of  slowly 
working  terrestrial  changes  of  considerable  magnitude. 
Thus,  then,  the  recent  progress  of  Geology  has  been  a  still 
further  departure  from  primitive  conceptions.  Instead  of 
one  catastrophic  cause,  once  in  universal  action,  as  supposed 
l)y  Werner — instead  of  one  general  continuous  cause,  antago- 
nized at  long  intervals  by  a  catastrophic  cause,  as  taught  by 
Hutton;  we  now  recognize  several  causes,  all  more  or  less 
general  and  continuous.  We  no  longer  resort  to  hypo- 
thetical agencies  to  explain  the  phenomena  displaycid  by  the 
Earth's  crust ;  but  we  are  day  by  day  more  clearly  perceiv- 
ing that  these  phenomena  have  arisen  from  forces  like  those 


198  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGT. 

now  at  work,  wliicli  have  acted  in  all  varieties  of  combina- 
tion, tliiougli  immeasurable  periods  of  time. 

Having  tlius  briefly  traced  tbe  evolution  of  geologic 
science,  and  noted  its  present  form,  let  us  go  on  to  observe 
tlie  way  in  wliicli  it  is  still  swayed  by  the  crude  hypotheses 
it  set  out  with;  so  that  even  now,  doctrines  long  since 
abandoned  as  untenable  in  theory,  continue  in  practice  to 
mould  the  ideas  of  geologists,  and  to  foster  sundry  beliefs 
that  are  logically  indefensible.  We  shall  see,  both  how 
those  simple  sweeping  conceptions  with  which  the  science 
commenced,  are  those  which  every  student  is  apt  at  first  to 
seize  hold  of,  and  how  several  influences  conspire  to  main- 
tain the  twist  thus  resulting — how  the  original  nomenclature 
of  periods  and  formations  necessarily  keeps  alive  the 
original  implications;  and  how  the  need  for  ari-anging 
new  data  in  some  order,  results  in  their  being  thrust  into 
the  old  classification,  unless  their  incongruity  with  it  is 
very  glaring.  A  few  facts  will  best  prepare  the  way 
for  criticism. 

Up  to  1839  it  was  inferred,  from  their  crystalline 
character,  that  the  metamorphic  rocks  of  Anglesea  were 
more  ancient  than  any  rocks  of  the  adjacent  main  land; 
but  it  has  since  been  shown  that  they  are  of  the  same 
age  with  the  slates  and  grits  of  Carnarvon  and  Merioneth. 
Again,  slaty  cleavage  having  been  first  found  only  in  the 
lowest  rocks,  was  taken  as  an  indication  of  the  highest 
antiquity:  whence  resulted  serious  mistakes;  ^br  this 
mineral  characteristic  is  now  known  to  occur  in  the 
Carboniferous  system.  Once  more,  certain  red  conglome- 
rates and  grits  on  the  north-west  coast  of  Scotland,  long 
supposed  from  their  lithological  aspect  to  belong  to  the 
Old  Red  Sandstone,  are  now  identified  with  the  Lower 
Silurians.  These  are  a  few  instances  of  the  small  trust  to  be 
placed  in  mineral  qualities,  as  evidence  of  the  ages  or 
relative  positions  of  strata.     From  the  recently-published 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY.  199 

third  edition  of  SiJuria,  may  be  culled  numerous  facts  of 
like  implication.  SirH.  Murcliison  considers  it  ascertained, 
that  tlie  siliceous  8tiper  stones  of  Shropshire  are  the 
equivalents  of  the  Tremadock  slates  of  North  Wales. 
Judged  by  their  fossils,  Bala  slate  and  limestone  are  of 
the  same  age  as  the  Caradoc  sandstone,  lyii^o  ^^^^J  miles 
off.  In  Kadnorshire,  the  formation  classed  as  upper 
Llandovery  rock,  is  described  at  different  spots,  as  "  sand- 
stone or  conglomerate,'^  "  impure  limestone,"  "  hard  coarse 
grits,"  "siliceous  grit" — a  considerable  variation  for  so 
small  an  area  as  that  of  a  county.  (Jcrtain  sandy  beds  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Towy,  which  Sir  R.  Murchison  had,  in 
his  Silurian  System,  classed  as  Caradoc  sandstone  (evidently 
from  their  mineral  characters),  he  now  finds,  from  their 
fossils,  belong  to  the  Llandeilo  formation.  Nevertheless, 
inferences  from  mineral  characters  are  still  habitually  drawn 
and  received.  Though  Siluria,  in  common  with  otlier 
geological  works,  supplies  numerous  proofs  that  rocks  of  the 
same  age  are  often  of  widely-different  composition  a  few  miles 
off,  while  rocks  of  widely-different  ages  are  often  of  similar 
composition;  and  though  Sir  R.  Murchison  shows  us,  as  in 
the  case  just  cited,  that  he  has  himself  in  past  times  been 
misled  by  trusting  to  lithological  evidence  ;  yet  his  reasoning 
all  through  Siluria,  shows  that  he  still  thinks  it  natural  to 
expect  formations  of  the  same  age  to  be  chemically  similar, 
even  in  remote  regions.  For  example,  in  treating  of  the 
Silurian  rocks  of  South  Scotland,  he  says: — "  When  ti'avers- 
iug  the  tract  between  Dumfries  and  Moffat,  in  1850,  it 
occurred  to  me,  that  the  dull  reddish  or  purple  sandstone  and 
schist  to  the  north  of  the  former  town,  which  so  resembled 
the  bottom  rocks  of  Longmynd,  Llanberis,  and  St.  David's, 
would  prove  to  be  of  the  same  age ;"  and  further  on,  he 
again  insists  upon  the  fact  that  these  strata  "  are  absolutely 
of  the  same  composition  as  the  bottom  rocks  of  the  Silurian 
region,"  On  this  unity  of  mineral  character  it  is,  that 
this  Scottish  formation  is  concluded  to  be  contemporaneous 
14 


200  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

witli  fhe  lowest  fonnations  in  Wales;  for  the  Bcanty 
paleontological  evidence  suffices  for  neither  proof  nor 
disproof.  Now,  had  there  been  a  continuity  of  like  strata 
in  like  order  between  Wales  and  Scotland,  there  might 
have  been  little  to  criticize  in  this  conclusion.  But  since 
Sir  R.  Murchison  himself  admits,  that  in  Westmoreland 
and  Cumberland,  some  members  of  the  system  "  assume 
a  lithological  aspect  different  from  what  they  maintain 
in  the  Silurinn  and  Welsh  region,"  there  seems  no  reason 
to  expect  mineralogical  continuity  in  Scotland.  Obviously, 
therefore,  the  assumption  that  these  Scottish  formations  are 
of  the  same  age  with  the  Longmynd  of  Shropshire,  implies 
the  latent  belief  that  certain  mineral  characters  indicate 
certain  eras.  Far  more  striking  instances,  however,  of  the 
influence  of  this  latent  belief  remain  to  be  given.  Not  in 
such  comparatively  near  districts  as  the  Scottish  lowlands 
only,  does  Sir  R.  Murchison  expect  a  repetition  of  the 
Longmynd  strata;  but  in  the  Rhenish  provinces,  certain 
"quartzose  flagstones  and  grits,  like  those  of  the  Long- 
mynd," are  seemingly  concluded  to  be  of  contemporaneous 
origin,  because  of  their  likeness.  "  Quartzites  in  roofing- 
slates  with  a  greenish  tinge  that  reminded  us  of  the  lower 
blates  of  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,'^  are  evidently 
suspected  to  be  of  the  same  age.  In  Russia,  he  remarks 
that  the  carboniferous  limestones  ''are  overlaid  along  the 
western  edge  of  the  Ural  chain  by  sandstones  and  grits, 
which  occupy  much  the  same  place  in  the  general  series  as 
the  millstone  gi'it  of  England;"  and  in  calling  this  group, 
as  he  does,  the  ''representative  of  the  millstone  grit,"  Sir 
R.  Murchison  clearly  shows  that  he  thinks  likeness  of 
mineral  composition  some  evidence  of  equivalence  in  time, 
even  at  that  great  distance.  Nay,  on  the  flanks  of  the 
Andes  and  in  the  United  States,  such  similarities  are  looked 
for,  and  considered  as  significant  of  certain  ages.  Not  that 
Sir  R.  Murchison  contends  theoretically  for  this  relation 
between  lithological  character  and  date.     For  on  the  page 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY.  201 

from  which  wo  have  just  quoted  {Siluria,  p.  387),  he  says, 
that  'Svhilst  the  soft  Lower  Silurian  clays  and  sands  of 
St.  Petersburg  have  their  equivalents  in  the  hard  schists 
and  quartz  rocks  with  gold  veins  in  the  heart  of  the  Ural 
mountains,  the  equally  soft  red  and  green  Devonian  marls 
of  the  Valdai  Hills  are  represented  on  the  western  flank  of 
that  chain  by  hard,  contorted,  and  fractured  limestones." 
But  these,  and  other  such  admissions,  seem  to  go  for  little. 
While  himself  asserting  that  the  Potsdam-sandstone  of 
North  America,  the  Lingula-flags  of  England,  and  the 
alum-slates  of  Scandinavia  are  of  the  same  period — ^Avhile 
fully  aware  that  among  the  Silurian  formations  of  Wales, 
there  are  oolitic  strata  like  those  of  secondary  age ;  yet  his 
reasoning  is  more  or  less  coloured  by  the  assumption,  that 
formations  of  like  qualitiesprobably  belong  to  the  same  era. 
Is  it  not  manifest,  then,  that  the  exploded  hypothesis  of 
Werner  continues  to  influence  geological  speculation? 

"But,"  it  Avill  perhaps  be  said,  'though  individual  strata 
are  not  continuous  over  large  areas,  yet  systems  of  strata 
are.  Though  within  a  few  miles  the  same  bed  gradually 
passes  from  clay  into  sand,  or  thins  out  and  disappears,  yet 
the  group  of  strata  to  which  it  belongs  does  not  do  so; 
but  maintains  in  remote  regions  the  same  relations  to 
other  groups." 

This  is  the  generally-current  belief.  On  this  assumption, 
the  received  geological  classifications  appear  to  be  framed. 
The  Silurian  system,  the  Devonian  system,  the  Carboni- 
ferous system,  etc.,  are  set  down  in  our  books  as  groups  of 
formations  which  every v;here  succeed  each  other  in  a  given 
order ;  and  are  severally  everywhere  of  the  same  age. 
Though  it  may  not  be  asserted  that  these  successive  systems 
are  universal ;  yet  it  seems  to  be  tacitly  assumed  that  they 
are.  In  North  and  South  America,  in  Asia,  in  Australia, 
sets  of  strata  are  assimilated  to  one  or  other  of  these 
groups;  and  their  possession  of  certain  mineral  characters 
and  a  certain  order  of  superpobiition  arc  among  the  reasons 


202  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

assigned  for  so  assimilating  them.  Though,  probably,  no 
competent  geolog-ist  would  contend  tliat  the  European 
classification  of  strata  is  applicable  to  the  globe  as  a  whole; 
yet  most,  if  not  all  geologists,  write  as  though  it  were. 
Among  readers  of  works  on  Geology,  nine  out  of  ten  carry 
away  the  impression  that  the  divisions,  Primary,  Secondary 
and  Tertiary,  are  of  absolute  and  uniform  application;  that 
these  great  divisions  are  separable  into  subdivisions,  each 
of  which  is  definitely  distinguishable  from  the  rest,  and  is 
everywhere  recognizable  by  its  characters  as  such  or  such ; 
and  that  in  all  parts  of  the  Earth,  these  minor  systems 
severally  began  and  ended  at  the  same  time.  When  they 
meet  with  the  term  "^  Carboniferous  era,"  they  take  for 
granted  that  it  was  an  era  universally  carboniferous — that 
it  was,  what  Hugh  Miller  indeed  actually  describes  it,  an  era 
when  the  Earth  bore  a  vegetation  far  more  luxuriant  than 
it  has  since  done ;  and  were  they  in  any  of  our  colonies  to 
meet  with  a  coal-bed,  they  would  conclude  that,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  it  was  of  the  same  age  as  the  English  coal-beds. 
Now  this  belief  that  geologic  "systems'^  are  universal,  is 
no  more  tenable  than  the  other.  It  is  just  as  absurd  when 
considered  a  priori;  and  it  is  equally  inconsistent  with  the 
facts.  Though  some  series  of  strata  classed  together  as 
Oolite,  may  range  over  a  wider  district  than  any  one 
stratum  of  the  series;  yet  we  have  but  to  ask  what  were  the 
circumstances  under  which  it  was  deposited,  to  see  that  the 
Oolitic  series,  like  one  of  its  individual  strata,  must  be  of 
local  origin;  and  that  there  is  not  likely  to  be  anywhere 
else,  a  series  which  corresponds,  either  in  its  characters  or 
in  its  commencement  and  termination.  For  the  formation 
of  such  a  series  implies  an  area  of  subsidence,  in  which  its 
component  beds  were  thrown  down.  Every  area  of  sub- 
sidence is  necessarily  limited;  and  to  suppose  that  there 
exist  elsewhere  groups  of  beds  completely  answering  to 
those  known  as  Oolite,  is  to  suppose  that,  in  contempor- 
aneous areas  of  subsidence,  like  processes  were  going  ou. 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  203 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  this;  but  good  reason  to 
suppose  the  reverse.  That  in  contemporaneous  areas  of 
subsidence  throughout  the  globe,  the  conditions  would  cause 
the  formation  of  Oolite,  is  an  assumption  which  no  modern 
geologist  would  openly  make.  He  would  say  that  the 
equivalent  series  of  beds  found  elsewhere,  would  probably 
be  of  dissimilar  mineral  character.  Moreover,  in  these 
contemporaneous  areas  of  subsidence,  the  processes  going 
on  would  not  only  be  different  in  kind;  but  in  no  two  cases 
would  they  be  likely  to  agree  in  their  commencements  and 
terminations.  The  probabilities  are  greatly  against  separate 
portions  of  the  Earth's  surface  beginning  to  subside  at 
the  same  time,  and  ceasing  to  subside  at  the  same  time — a 
coincidence  which  alone  could  produce  equivalent  groups  of 
strata.  Subsidences  in  different  places  begin  and  end  with 
utter  irregularity;  and  hence  the  groups  of  strata  thrown 
down  in  them  can  but  rarely  correspond.  Measured 
against  each  other  in  time,  their  limits  must  disagree.  On 
turning  to  the  evidence,  we  find  that  it  daily  tends  moro 
and  more  to  justify  these  a  'priori  positions.  Take,  as  an 
example,  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  system.  In  the  north  of 
England  this  is  represented  by  a  single  stratum  of  con- 
glomerate. In  Herefordshire,  Worcestershire,  and  Shrop- 
shire, it  expands  into  a  series  of  strata  from  eight  to  ten 
thousand  feet  thick,  made  up  of  conglomerates,  red,  green, 
and  white  sandstones,  red,  green,  and  spotted  marls,  and 
concretionary  limestones.  To  the  south-west,  as  between 
Caermarthen  and  Pembroke,  these  Old  Red  Sandstone 
strata  exhibit  considerable  lithological  changes;  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Bristol  Channel,  they  display  further 
changes  in  mineral  characters ;  while  in  South  Devon  and 
Cornwall,  the  equivalent  strata,  consisting  chicily  of  slates, 
schists,  and  limestones,  are  so  wholly  different,  that  they 
were  for  a  long  time  classed  as  Sihirian.  When  we  thus 
see  that  in  certain  directions  the  whole  group  of  deposits 
thins  out,  and  that  its  mineral  characters  change  within 


204  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOOY. 

moderate    distances ;   does    it    not    become  clear  that   the 

whole  group  of  deposits  was  a  local  one?     And  when  we 

find,  in  other  regions,  formations  analogous  to  these  Old 

Red  Sandstone  or  Devonian  formations,  is  it  certain — is  it 

even  probable — that  they  severally  began  and  ended  at  the 

same  time  Avith  them?    Should  it  not  require  overwhelming 

evidence  to  make  us  believe  as  much? 

Yet  so  strongly  is  geological  speculation  swayed  by  the 

tendency  to  regard  the   phenomena  as  general  instead  of 

local,  that  even  those  most  on  their  guard  against  it  seem 

unable   to    escape    its    influence.     At    page    158    of    his 

I'r'mciples  of  Geology,  Sir  Charles  Lyell  says  : — 

*'  A  group  of  red  marl  and  red  sandstone,  containing  salt  and  gypsum, 
being  interposed  in  England  between  the  Lias  and  the  Coal,  all  other  red 
marls  and  sandstones,  associated  some  of  them  with  salt,  and  others  with 
gypsum,  and  occurring  not  only  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  but  in  North 
America,  Peru,  India,  the  salt  deserts  of  Asia,  those  of  Africa — in  a  word,  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe,  were  referred  to  one  and  the  same  period.  .  . 
.  .  .  It  was  in  vain  to  urge  as  an  objection  the  improbability  of  the 
hypothesis  which  implies  that  all  the  moving  waters  on  the  globe  were  once 
simultaneously  charged  with  sediment  of  a  red  colour.  But  the  rashness  of 
pretending  to  identify,  in  age,  all  the  red  sandstones  and  marls  in  question, 
has  at  length  been  sufficiently  exposed,  by  the  discovery  that,  even  in 
Europe,  they  belong  decidedly  to  many  dili'erent  epochs." 

Nevertheless,  while  in  this  and  many  kindred  passages 

Sir  C.  Lyell  protests  against  the  bias  here  illustrated,  he 

seems  himself  not  completely  free  from  it.      Though  he 

utterly  rejects  the  old  hypothesis  that  all  over  the  Earth 

the  same  continuous  strata  lie  one  upon  another  in  regular 

order,  like  the  coats  of  an  onion,  he  still  writes  as  though 

geologic  '^  systems' ''  do  thus  succeed  each  other.     A  reader 

of  his  Manual  would  certainly  suppose  him  to  believe,  that 

the  Pi-imai-y  epoch  ended,  and  the  secondary  epoch  began, 

all    over  the  world  at  the    same  time — that   these  terms 

really  correspond    to  distinct   universal  eras.      When  he 

assumes,  as  he  does,  that  the  division  between  Cambi-ian 

and  Lower   Silurian  in  America,  answers   chronologically 

to  the  division  between  Cambrian  and   Lower  Silurian  in 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOOY.  205 

Wales — wlien  he  takes  for  granted  that  the  partings  of 
Lower  from  Middle  Silurian,  and  of  Middle  Silurian  from 
Upper,  in  the  one  region,  are  of  the  same  dates  as  the  like 
partings  in  the  other  region ;  does  it  not  seem  that  he  be- 
lieves geologic  "systems^'  to  be  universal,  in  the  sense 
that  their  separations  were  in  all  places  contemporaneous  ? 
Though  he  would,  doubtless,  disown  this  as  an  ai-ticle  of 
faith,  is  not  his  thinking  unconsciously  influenced  by  it  f 
Must  we  not  say  that,  though  the  onion-coat  hypothesis  ia 
dead,  its  spirit  is  traceable,  under  a  transcendental  form, 
even  in  the  conclusions  of  its  antagonists  ? 

Let  us  now  consider  another  leading  geological  doctrine, 
— the  doctrine  that  strata  of  the  same  age  contain  like 
fossils;  and  that,  therefore,  the  age  and  relative  position 
of  any  stratum  may  be  known  by  its  fossils.  While  the 
theory  that  strata  of  like  mineral  characters  were  every- 
where deposited  simultaneously,  has  been  ostensibly  aban- 
doned, there  has  been  accepted  the  theory  that  in  each 
geologic  epoch  similar  plants  and  animals  existed  every- 
where ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  epoch  to  which  any 
formation  belongs  may  be  known  by  the  organic  remains 
contained  in  the  formation.  Though,  perhaps,  no  leading 
geologist  would  openly  commit  himself  to  an  unqualified 
assertion  of  this  theory,  yet  it  is  tacitly  assumed  in  current 
geological  reasoning. 

This  theory,  however,  is  scarcely  more  tenable  than  the 
other.  It  cannot  be  concluded  with  any  certainty,  that  for- 
mations in  which  similar  organic  remains  are  found,  were  of 
contemporaneous  origin  ;  nor  can  it  be  safely  concluded  that 
strata  containing  different  organic  remains  are  of  different 
ages.  To  most  readers  these  will  be  startling  propositions  ; 
but  they  are  fully  admitted  by  the  highest  authorities.  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  confesses  that  the  test  of  organic  remains 
must  be  used  "  under  very  much  the  same  restrictions  as 
the  test  of  miueral  composition."     Sir  Henry  de  la  Beclie, 


206  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

who  variously  illustrates  this  truth^  remarks  on  the  great 
incongruity  there  must  be  between  the  fossils  of  our  car- 
boniferous rocks  and  those  of  the  marine  strata  deposited  at 
the  same  period.  But  though,  in  the  abstract,  the  danger 
of  basing  positive  conclusions  on  evidence  derived  from 
fossils,  is  recognized;  yet,  in  the  concrete,  this  danger  is 
generally  disregarded.  The  established  convictions  respect- 
ing the  ages  of  strata,  have  been  formed  in  spite  of  it ;  and 
by  some  geologists  it  seems  altogether  ignored.  Through- 
out his  Siluria,  Sir  R.  Murchison  habitually  assumes  that 
the  same,  or  kindred,  species,  lived  in  all  parts  of  the  Earth 
at  the  same  time.  In  Russia,  in  Bohemia,  in  the  United 
States,  in  South  America,  strata  are  classed  as  belonging 
to  this  or  that  part  of  the  Silurian  system,  because  of  the 
similar  fossils  contained  in  them — are  concluded  to  be 
everywhere  contemporaneous  if  they  enclose  a  proportion 
of  identical  or  allied  forms.  In  Russia  the  relative  position 
of  a  stratum  is  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  along  with  some 
Wenlock  forms,  it  yields  the  Pentamerus  oblongus.  Certain 
crustaceans  called  Ewrypteri,  being  characteristic  of  the 
Upper  Ludlow  reck,  it  is  remarked  that  "  large  Eurypteri 
occur  in  a  so-called  black  grey-wacke  slate  in  Westmore- 
land, in  Oneida  County,  New  York,  which  will  probably  be 
found  to  be  on  the  parallel  of  the  Upper  Ludlow  rock :  " 
in  which  word  '*  probably,"  we  see  both  how  dominant  is 
this  belief  of  universal  distribution  of  similar  creatures  at 
the  same  period,  and  how  apt  this  belief  is  to  make  its 
own  proof,  by  raising  the  expectation  that  the  ages  are 
identical  when  the  forms  are  alike.  Besides  thus  inter- 
preting the  formations  of  Russia,  England,  and  America, 
Sir  R.  Murchison  thus  interprets  those  of  the  antipodes. 
Fossils  from  Victoria  Colony,  he  agrees  with  the  Govern- 
ment-surveyor in  classing  as  ot"  Lower  Silurian  or  Llando- 
very age  :  that  is,  he  takes  for  granted  that  when  certain 
crustacea,ns  and  mollusks  were  living  in  Wales,  certain 
similar  crustaceans  and  mollusks  were  Uvinsr  in  Australia. 


ILLOGICAL  GEOLOQT.  207 

Yet  the  improbability  of  this  assumption  may  be  readily 
shown  from  Sir  E,.  Murcliison's  own  facts.  If,  as  lie  points 
out,  the  fossil  crustaceans  of  the  uppermost  Silurian  rockg 
in  Lanarkshire  are,  *'with  one  doubtful  exception,"  all 
''distinct  from  any  of  the  forms  known  on  the  samo 
horizon  in  England;  "  how  can  it  be  fairly  presumed  that 
the  forms  existing  on  the  other  side  of  the  Earth  during 
the  Silurian  period,  were  nearly  allied  to  those  existing 
here  ?  Not  only,  indeed,  do  Sir  E,.  Murcliison's  conclusions 
tacitly  assume  this  doctrine  of  universal  distribution,  but  ho 
distinctly  enunciates  it.  *'  The  mere  presence  of  a  grapto-  • 
lite,"  he  says,  "  will  at  once  decide  that  the  enclosing  rock 
is  Silurian ; "  and  he  says  this,  notwithstanding  repeated 
warnings  against  such  generalizations.  During  the  progress 
of  Geology,  it  has  over  and  over  again  happened  that  a 
particular  fossil,  long  considered  characteristic  of  a  par- 
ticular formation,  has  been  afterwards  discovered  in  other 
formations.  Until  some  twelve  years  ago,  Goniatites  had 
not  been  found  lower  than  the  Devonian  rocks ;  but  now, 
in  Bohemia,  they  have  been  found  in  rocks  classed  as  Silu- 
rian. Quite  recently,  the  Orthoceras,  previously  supposed 
to  be  a  type  exclusively  paleeozoic,  has  been  detected  along 
with  mesozoic  Ammonites  and  Belemnites.  Yet  hosts  of 
such  experiences  fail  to  extinguish  the  assumption,  that  the 
age  of  a  stratum  may  be  determined  by  the  occurrence  in 
it  of  a  single  fossil  form.  Nay,  this  assumption  survives 
evidence  of  even  a  still  more  destructive  kind.  Referring 
to  the  Silurian  system  in  Western  Ireland,  Sir  R.  Murchisou 
says,  "  in  the  beds  near  Maam,  Professor  Nicol  and  myself 
collected  remains,  some  of  which  would  bo  considered 
Lower,  and  others  Upper,  Sihirian ; "  and  he  then  names 
sundry  fossils  which,  in  England,  belong  to  the  summit  of 
the  Ludlow  rocks,  or  highest  Silurian  strata ;  "  some,  which 
elsewhere  are  known  only  in  rocks  of  Llandovery  ago** — that 
is,  of  middle  Silurian  age;  and  somg,  only  before  known  in 
Lower   Silurian   strata,   uot   far  above   the   most  ancient 


208  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY. 

fossiliferous  beds.  Now  wliat  do  these  facts  prove  ? 
Clearly,  they  prove  that  species  which  in  Wales  are  separ- 
ated by  strata  more  than  twenty  thousand  feet  deep,  and 
therefore  seem  to  belong  to  periods  far  more  remote  from 
each  other,  were  really  co-existent.  They  prove  that  the 
mollusks  and  crinoids  held  to  be  characteristic  of  early 
Silurian  strata,  and  supposed  to  have  become  extinct  long 
before  the  mollusks  and  crinoids  of  the  later  Silurian  strata 
came  into  existence,  were  really  flourishing  at  the  same 
time  with  these  last;  and  that  these  last  possibly  date 
back  to  as  early  a  period  as  the  first.  They  prove  that  not 
only  the  mineral  characters  of  sedimentary  formations,  but 
also  the  collections  of  organic  forms  they  contain,  depend, 
to  a  great  extent,  on  local  circumstances.  They  prove  that 
the  fossils  met  with  in  any  series  of  strata,  cannot  be  taken 
as  representing  anything  like  the  whole  Flora  and  Fauna 
of  the  period  they  belong  to.  In  brief,  they  throw  great 
doubt  upon  numerous  geological  generalizations. 

Notwithstanding  facts  like  these,  and  notwithstanding 
his  avowed  opinion  that  the  test  of  organic  remains  must  be 
used  "  under  very  much  the  same  restrictions  as  the  test  of 
mineral  composition,"  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  too,  considers 
sundry  positive  conclusions  to  be  justified  by  this  test:  even 
where  the  community  of  fossils  is  slight  and  the  distance 
great.  Having  decided  that  in  various  places  in  Europe, 
middle  Eocene  strata  are  distinguished  by  Nummulites ;  he 
infers,  without  any  other  assigned  evidence,  that  wherever 
Nummulites  are  found — in  Morocco,  Algeria,  Egypt,  in 
Persia,  Scinde,  Cutch,  Eastern  Bengal,  and  the  frontiers  of 
China — thecontainingformationis  Middle  Eocene.  Andfrom 
this  inference  he  draws  the  following  important  corollary : — • 

"  ^Yhe^  we  have  once  arrived  at  the  conviction  that  the  numniuHtic  for- 
mation occupies  a  middle  place  in  the  Eocene  series,  we  are  struck  with  the 
comparatively  modern  date  to  which  some  of  the  greatest  revolutions  in  the 
physical  geography  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  northern  Africa  must  be  referred. 
All  the  mountain  chains,  such  as  the  Alps,  Pyrenees,  Carpathians,  and 
Himalayas,  into  the  composition   qt  whose  central  and  loftiest  parts  the 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  209 

nummuHtic  strata  enter  bodily,  could  have  had  no  existence  till  after  the 
Middle  Eocene  period." — Manual,  p.  232. 

A  Ktill  more  marked  case  follows  on  the  next  pn,!:^e. 
Because  a  certain  bed  at  Claiborne  in  Alabama,  Avhicli  con- 
tains ''four  hundred  species  of  marine  shells/'  includes 
among  them  the  Cardita  planico.sta,  ''  and  some  others 
identical  with  European  species,  or  very  nearly  allied  to 
them,"  Sir  C.  Lyell  says  it  is  "highly  probable  the  Claiborne 
beds  agree  in  age  with  the  central  or  Bracklesham  group 
of  England."  When  we  find  contemporaneity  alleged  ou 
the  strength  of  a  community  no  greater  than  that  which 
sometimes  exists  between  strata  of  widely-different  ages  in 
the  same  country,  it  seems  as  though  the  above-quoted 
caution  had  been  forgotten.  It  appears  to  be  assumed  for 
the  occasion,  that  species  which  had  a  wide  range  in  space 
had  a  narrow  range  in  time;  which  is  the  reverse  of  the 
fact.  The  tendency  to  systematize  overrides  the  evidence, 
and  thrusts  Nature  into  a  formula  too  rigid  to  fit  her 
endless  variety. 

"  But,"  it  may  be  urged,  "  surely,  when  in  different 
places  the  order  of  superposition,  the  mineral  characters, 
and  the  fossils,  agree,  it  may  safely  be  concluded  that  the 
formations  thus  corresponding  date  back  to  the  same  time. 
If,  for  example,  the  United  States  display  a  succession  of 
Silurian,  Devonian,  and  Carboniferous  systems,  lithologically 
similarto  those  known  here  by  those  names,  andcharacterized 
by  like  fossils,  it  is  a  fair  inference  that  these  groups  of 
strata  were  severally  being  deposited  in  America  wliilo 
their  equivalents  were  being  deposited  here." 

On  this  position,  which  seems  a  strong  one,  we  have,  in 
the  first  place,  to  remark,  that  the  evidence  of  correspondence 
is  always  more  or  less  suspicious.  "We  have  already  adverted 
to  the  several  "  idols  " — if  we  may  use  Bacon's  metaphor 
— to  which  geologists  unconsciously  sacrifice,  when  inter- 
preting the  structures  of  unexplored  regions.  Carrying 
with  them  the  classification  of  strata  existing  in  Europe, 


210  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

and  assuming  that  groups  of  strata  in  other  parts  of  the 
world  must  answer  to  some  of  the  groups  of  strata  known 
here,  they  are  necessarily  prone  to  assert  parallelism  on 
insufficient  evidence.  The}^  scarcely  entertain  the  previous 
question,  whether  the  formations  they  are  examining  have 
or  have  not  any  European  equivalents ;  but  the  question 
is — with  which  of  the  European  series  shall  they  be 
classed? — with  which  do  they  most  agree  ? — from  which  do 
they  dilfer  least?  And  this  being  the  mode  of  inquiry, 
there  is  apt  to  result  great  laxity  of  inter2:)retation.  How 
lax  the  interpretation  really  is,  may  be  readily  shown. 
When  strata  are  discontinuous,  as  between  Europe  and 
America,  no  evidence  can  be  derived  from  the  order  of 
superposition,  apart  from  mineral  characters  and  organic 
remains;  for,  unless  strata  can  be  continuously  traced, 
mineral  characters  and  organic  remains  afford  the  only 
means  of  classing  them  as  such  or  such.  As  to  the  test  of 
mineral  characters,  we  have  seen  that  it  is  almost  worthless; 
and  no  modern  geologist  would  dare  to  say  it  should  be 
relied  on.  If  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  series  m  mid-England, 
differs  wholly  in  lithological  aspect  from  the  equivalent  series 
in  South  Devon,  it  is  clear  that  similarities  of  texture  and 
composition  cannot  justify  us  in  classing  a  system  of  strata 
in  another  quarter  of  the  globe  Avith  some  European  system. 
The  test  of  fossils  is  the  only  one  that  remains ;  and  with 
how  little  strictness  this  test  is  applied,  one  case  will  show. 
Of  forty-six  species  of  British  Devonian  corals,  only  six 
occur  in  America ;  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  wide  range 
which  the  Anthozoa  are  known  to  have.  Similarly  of  the 
MoUnxca  and  Crinoidea,  it  appears  that,  while  there  are 
Kundr}'  genera  found  in  America  which  are  found  here, 
there  are  scarcely  any  of  the  same  species.  And  Sir  Charles 
Lyell  admits  that  "  the  difficulty  of  deciding  on  the  exact 
parallelism  of  the  New  York  subdivisions,  as  above 
enumerated,  with  the  members  of  the  European  Devonian, 
is  very  great,  so  few  are  the  species  in  common."     Yet  it 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY.  211 

is  on  tlie  strengtli  of  community  of  fossils,  that  the  whola 
Devonian  series  of  tlie  United  States  is  assumed  to  be 
contemporaneous  with  tlie  whole  Devonian  series  of  England. 
And  it  is  partly  on  the  ground  that  the  Devonian  of  the 
United  States  corresponds  in  time  with  our  own  Devonian, 
that  Sir  Charles  Lyell  concludes  the  superjacent  coal- 
measures  of  the  two  countries  to  be  of  the  same  age.  Is 
it  not,  then,  as  we  said,  that  the  evidence  in  these  cases  is 
very  suspicious  ?  Should  it  be  replied,  as  it  may  faii-ly  be, 
that  this  correspondence  from  which  the  synchronism  of 
distant  formations  is  inferred,  is  not  a  correspondence 
between  particular  species  or  particular  genera,  bvit  be- 
tween the  general  characters  of  the  contained  assemblages 
of  fossils — between  the  fades  of  the  two  Faunas;  the 
rejoinder  is,  that  though  such  correspondence  is  a  stronger 
evidence  of  synchronism  it  is  still  an  insufficient  one.  To 
infer  synchronism  from  such  correspondence,  involves  the 
postulate  that  throughout  each  geologic  era  there  has 
habitually  existed  a  recognizable  similarity  between  the 
groups  of  organic  forms  inhabiting  all  the  different  pnrts 
of  the  Earth ;  and  that  the  causes  which  have  in  one  part 
of  the  Earth  changed  the  organic  forms  into  those  which 
characterize  the  next  era,  have  simultaneously  acted  in 
all  other  parts  of  the  Earth,  in  such  ways  as  to  produce 
parallel  changes  of  their  organic  forms.  Now  this  is  not 
oidy  a  large  assumption  to  make;  but  it  is  an  assump- 
tion contrary  to  probability.  The  probability  is,  thafi 
the  causes  which  have  changed  Faunas  have  been  local 
rather  than  universal;  that  hence  while  the  Faunas  of 
some  regions  have  been  rapidly  changing,  those  of  others 
have  been  almost  quiescent;  and  that  when  those  of 
others  have  been  changed,  it  has  been,  not  in  such  ways 
as  to  maintain  parallelism,  but  in  such  ways  as  to  pro- 
duce divergence. 

Even  supposing,  however,  that  districts  some  hundreds 
of  miles  apart,  furnished  groups  of  strata  which  completely 


212  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGT. 

agreed  in  tbeir  order  of  superposition,  their  mineral 
characters,  and  their  fossils,  we  should  still  have  inadequate 
proof  of  contemporaneity.  For  there  are  conditions,  very 
likely  to  occur,  under  which  such  groups  might  differ  widely 
in  age.  If  there  be  a  continent  of  which  the  strata  crop 
out  on  the  surface  obliquely  to  the  line  of  coast — running, 
say,  west-north-west,  while  the  coast  runs  east  and  west — 
it  is  clear  that  each  group  of  strata  will  crop  out  on  the 
beach  at  a  particular  part  of  the  coast;  that  further  west 
the  next  group  of  strata  will  crop  out  on  the  beach ;  and  so 
continuously.  As  the  localization  of  marine  plants  and 
animals,  is  in  a  considerable  degree  determined  by  the 
natures  of  the  rocks  and  their  detritus,  it  follows  that  each 
part  of  this  coast  will  have  its  more  or  less  distinct  Flora 
and  Favma.  What  now  must  result  from  the  action  of  the 
waves  in  the  course  of  a  geologic  epoch  ?  As  the  sea  makes 
slow  inroads  on  the  land,  the  place  at  which  each  group  of 
strata  crops  out  on  the  beach  will  gradually  move  towards 
the  west :  its  distinctive  fish,  mollusks,  crustaceans,  and 
sea- weeds,  migrating  with  it.  Further,  the  detritus  of  each 
of  these  groups  of  strata  will,  as  the  point  of  outcrop  moves 
westwards,  be  deposited  over  the  detritus  of  the  group  in 
advance  of  it.  And  the  consequence  of  these  actions,  carried 
on  for  one  of  those  enormous  periods  which  a  geologic 
change  takes,  will  be  that,  corresponding  to  each  eastern 
stratum,  there  will  arise  a  stratum  far  to  the  west,  which, 
though  occupying  the  same  position  relatively  to  other  beds, 
formed  of  like  materials,  and  containing  like  fossils,  will 
yet  be  perhaps  a  million  years  later  in  date. 

But  the  illegitimacy,  or  at  any  rate  the  great  doubtful- 
ness, of  many  current  geological  inferences,  is  best  seen 
when  we  contemplate  terrestrial  changes  now  going  on ; 
and  ask  how  far  such  inferences  are  countenanced  by  them. 
If  we  carry  out  rigorously  the  modern  method  of  interpret- 
ing  geological   phenomena,  which  Sir  Chai"les  Lyell  haa 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOQT.  213 

done  so  much  to  establisli — that  of  referring  them  to  causes 
like  those  at  present  in  action — we  cannot  fail  to  see  how 
improbable  are  sundry  of  the  received  conclusions. 

Along  each  shore  which  is  being  worn  away  by  the 
waves,  there  are  being  formed  mud,  sand,  and  pebbles. 
This  detritus  has,  in  each  locality,  a  more  or  less  special 
character;  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  strata  destroyed. 
In  the  English  Channel  it  is  not  the  same  as  in  the  Irish 
Channel ;  on  the  east  coast  of  Ireland  it  is  not  the  same 
as  on  the  west  coast ;  and  so  throughout.  At  the  mouth 
of  each  great  river,  there  is  being  deposited  sediment 
differing  more  or  less  from  that  deposited  at  the  mouths 
of  other  rivers  in  colovir  and  quality ;  forming  strata 
which  are  here  red,  there  yellow,  and  elsewhere  brown, 
grey,  or  dirty  white.  Besides  which  various  formations, 
going  on  in  deltas  and  along  shores,  there  are  some  much 
wider,  and  still  more  strong'ly  contrasted,  formations.  At 
the  bottom  of  the  ^Egean  Sea,  there  is  accumulating  a 
bed  of  Pteropod  shells,  which  will  eventually,  no  doubt,  be- 
come a  calcareous  rock.  For  some  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  square  miles,  the  ocean-bed  between  Great  Britain 
and  North  America,  is  being  covered  with  a  stratum  of 
chalk ;  and  over  large  areas  in  the  Pacific,  there  are  going 
on  deposits  of  coralline  limestone.  Thus,  there  are  at  thia 
moment  being  produced  in  different  places  multitudinous 
strata  differing  from  one  another  in  lithological  characters. 
Name  at  random  any  part  of  the  sea-bottom,  and  ask 
whether  the  deposit  there  takine:  place  is  like  the  deposit 
taking  place  at  some  distant  part  of  the  sea-bottom,  and 
the  almost-certainly  correct  answer  will  be — No.  The 
:^hances  are  not  in  favour  of  similarity,  but  against  it — ■ 
many  to  one  against  it. 

In  the  order  of  superposition  of  strata  there  is  being 
established  a  like  variety.  la  'h  region  of  the  Earth's 
surface  has  its  special  history  of  elevations,  subsidences, 
periods  of  rest :  and  this  history  in  no  case  fits  chronologi- 


214  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

cally  witli  tlie  history  of  any  otlier  portion.  River  deltas 
are  now  being*  thrown  down  on  formations  of  different  ages : 
Bome  very  ancient,  some  quite  modern.  While  here  there 
has  been  deposited  a  series  of  beds  many  hundreds  of  feet 
thick,  there  has  elsewhere  been  deposited  but  a  single  bed 
of  fine  mud.  While  one  region  of  the  Earth's  crust,  con- 
tinuing for  a  vast  epoch  above  the  surface  of  the  ocean, 
bears  record  of  no  changes  save  those  resulting  from 
denudation ;  another  region  of  the  Earth's  crust  gives 
proof  of  sundry  changes  of  level,  with  their  several  result- 
ing masses  of  stratified  detritus.  If  anything  is  to  be 
judged  from  current  processes,  we  must  infer,  not  only  that 
everywhere  the  succession  of  sedimentary  formations  differs 
more  or  less  from  the  succession  elsewhere ;  but  also  that 
in  each  place,  there  exist  groups  of  strata  to  which  many 
other  places  have  no  equivalents. 

With  respect  to  the  organic  bodies  imbedded  in  forma- 
tions now  in  progress,  a  like  truth  is  equally  manifest,  if  not 
more  manifest.  Even  along  the  same  coast,  within  moderate 
distances,  the  forms  of  life  differ  very  considerably ;  and 
they  differ  much  more  on  coasts  that  are  remote  from 
one  another.  Again,  dissimilar  creatures  which  are  living 
together  near  the  same  shore,  do  not  leave  their  remains 
in  the  same  beds  of  sediment.  For  instance,  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Adriatic,  where  the  prevailing  currents  cause  the 
deposits  to  be  here  of  mud,  and  there  of  calcareous  matter, 
it  is  proved  that  different  species  of  co-existing  shells  are 
being  buried  in  these  respective  formations.  On  our  own 
coasts,  the  marine  remains  found  a  few  miles  from  shore, 
in  banks  where  fish  congregate,  are  different  from  those 
found  close  to  the  shore,  where  littoral  species  flourish. 
A  large  proportion  of  aquatic  creatures  have  structures 
which  do  not  admit  of  fossilization ;  while  of  the  rest,  the 
great  majority  are  destroyed,  when  dead,  by  various  kinds 
of  scavengers.  So  that  no  one  deposit  near  our  shores  can 
contain  anything  like  a  true  representation  of  the  Fauna  of 


ILLOGICAL   GKOLOGY.  215 

the  surrounding  sea;  much  less  of  the  co-existing'  Faunas 
of  other  seas  in  the  same  latitude;  and  still  less  of  the 
Faunas  of  seas  in  distant  latitudes.  Were  it  not  that 
the  assertion  seems  needful,  it  would  be  almost  absurd  to 
say,  that  the  organic  remains  now  being  buried  in  the 
Dogger  Bank,  can  tell  us  next  to  nothing  about  the  fish, 
crustaceans,  mollusks,  and  corals,  which  are  being  buried 
in  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  Still  stronger  is  the  argument  in 
the  case  of  terrestrial  life.  With  more  numerous  and 
greater  contrasts  between  the  types  inhabiting  one  continent 
and  those  inhabiting  another,  there  is  a  far  more  imperfect 
registry  of  them.  Schouw  marks  out  on  the  Earth  more 
than  twenty  botanical  regions,  occupied  by  groups  of  forms 
so  distinct,  that,  if  fossilized,  geologists  would  scarcely  be 
disposed  to  refer  them  all  to  the  same  period.  Of  Faunas, 
the  Arctic  differs  from  the  Temperate  ;  the  Temperate  from 
the  Tropical ;  and  the  South  Temperate  from  the  North 
Temperate.  Nay,  in  the  South  Temperate  Zone  itself,  the 
two  regions  of  South  Africa  and  South  America  are  unlike 
in  their  mammals,  birds,  reptiles,  fishes,  mollusks,  insects. 
The  shells  and  bones  now  lying  at  the  bottoms  of  lakes  and 
estuaries  in  these  several  regions,  have  certainly  not  that 
similarity  which  is  usually  looked  for  in  those  of  contem- 
poraneous strata;  and  the  recent  forms  exhumed  in  any 
one  of  these  regions  would  very  untruly  represent  the  present 
Flora  and  Fauna  of  the  Earth.  In  conformity  with  the  cur- 
rent style  of  geological  reasoning,  an  exhaustive  examination 
of  deposits  in  the  Arctic  circle,  might  be  held  to  prove  that 
though  at  this  period  there  were  sundry  mammals  existing, 
there  were  no  reptiles ;  while  the  absence  of  mammals  in 
the  deposits  of  the  Galapagos  Archipelago,  where  there  are 
plenty  of  reptiles,  might  be  held  to  prove  the  reverse.  And 
at  the  same  time,  from  the  formations  extending  for  two 
thousand  miles  along  the  great  barrier-reef  of  Australia- 
formations  in  which  are  imbedded  nothing  but  corals, 
echinoderms.  mollusks,  crustaceans,  and  fish,  along  with  an 
15 


21b  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY. 

occasional  turtle,  or  bird,  or  cetacean — it  miglit  he  inferred 
that  there  lived  in  our  epoch  neither  terrestrial  reptiles,  nor 
terrestrial  mammals.  The  mention  of  Australia,  indeed, 
suggests  an  illustration  which,  even  alone,  would  amply  prove 
our  case.  The  Fauna  of  this  region  differs  widely  from  any 
that  is  found  elsewhere.  On  land,  all  the  indigenous  mam- 
mals, except  bats,  belong  to  the  lowest,  or  implacental 
division  ;  and  the  insects  are  singularly  different  from  those 
found  elsewhere.  The  surrounding  seas  contain  numerous 
forms  which  are  more  or  less  strange  ;  and  among  the  fish 
there  exists  a  species  of  shark,  which  is  the  only  living  repre- 
sentive  of  a  genus  that  flourished  in  early  geologic  epochs. 
If,  now,  the  modern  fossil  if  erous  deposits  of  Australia  were 
to  be  examined  by  one  ignorant  of  the  existing  Australian 
Fauna;  and  if  he  were  to  reason  in  the  usual  manner;  he 
would  be  very  unlikely  to  class  these  deposits  with  those  ot 
the  present  time.  How,  then,  can  we  place  confidence  in  the 
tacit  assumption  thatcertainformations  in  remote  parts  of  the 
Earth  are  referable  to  the  same  period,  because  the  organic 
remains  contained  in  them  disphiy  a  certain  community 
of  character  ?  or  that  certain  others  are  referable  to  different 
periods,  because  the  fades  of  their  Faunas  are  different  ? 

"  But,"  it  will  be  replied,  "  in  past  eras  the  same,  or  simi- 
lar^ organic  forms  were  more  widely  distributed  than  now." 
It  maybe  so;  but  the  evidence  adduced  by  no  means  proves 
it.  The  argument  by  which  this  conclusion  is  reached,  runs 
a  risk  of  being  quoted  as  an  example  of  reasoning  in  a  circle. 
As  already  pointed  out,  between  formations  in  remote  regions 
the  accepted  test  of  equivalence  is  community  of  fossils. 
If,  then,  the  contemporaneity  of  remote  formations  is  con- 
cluded from  the  likeness  of  their  fossils;  how  can  it  be  said 
that  similar  plants  and  animals  were  once  more  widely  distri- 
buted, because  they  are  found  in  contemporaneous  strata  in 
remote  regions  ?  Is  not  the  fallacy  manifest  ?  Even  sup- 
posing there  were  no  such  fatal  objection  as  this,  the  evidence 
commonly  assiguod  would  still  bo  insufficient.     For  we  must 


ILLOGICAL    GKOLOGY.  217 

l)oar  in  mind  tliat  the  community  of  organic  remains 
usually  thought  sufl&cient  proof  of  correspondence  in  time, 
is  a  very  imperfect  community.  When  the  compai'ed  sedi- 
mentary beds  are  far  apart^  it  is  scarcely  expected  that  thera 
will  be  many  species  common  to  the  two  :  it  is  enough  if 
there  be  discovered  a  considerable  number  of  common 
genera.  Now  had  it  been  pi'oved  that  throughout  geologic 
time^  each  genus  lived  but  for  a  short  period^a  period 
measured  by  a  single  group  of  strata — something  might  be 
inferred.  But  what  if  we  learn  that  many  of  the  same 
genera  continued  to  exist  throughout  enormous  epochs, 
measured  by  several  vast  systems  of  strata  ?  "  Among 
molluscs,  the  genera  Avicula,  Modiola,  Terehratula,  Lin- 
gula,  and  Orhicula,  are  found  from  the  Silurian  rocks 
upwards  to  the  present  day."  If,  then,  between  the 
lowest  fossiliferous  formations  and  the  most  recent,  there 
exists  this  degree  of  community ;  must  we  not  infer  that 
there  will  probably  often  exist  a  great  degree  of  community 
between  strata  that  are  far  from  contemporaneous  ? 

Thus  the  reasoning  from  which  it  is  concluded  that 
similar  organic  forms  were  once  more  widely  spread  than 
now,  is  doubly  fallacious ;  and,  consequently,  the  classi- 
fications of  foreign  strata  based  on  the  conclusion  are 
untrustworthy.  Judging  from  the  present  distribution  of 
life,  we  cannot  expect  to  find  similar  remains  in  geograph- 
ically remote  strata  of  the  same  age ;  and  where,  between 
the  fossils  of  geographically  remote  strata,  we  do  find  much 
similarity,  it  is  probably  due  rather  to  likeness  of  conditions 
than  to  contemporaneity.  If  from  causes  and  effects  such 
as  we  now  witness,  we  reason  back  to  the  causes  and  effects 
of  past  epochs,  we  discover  inadequate  warrant  for  sundry 
of  the  received  doctrines.  Seeing,  as  we  do,  that  in  largo 
areas  of  the  Pacific  this  is  a  period  characterized  by 
abundance  of  corals;  that  in  the  North  Atlantic  it  is  a 
period  in  which  a  great  chalk-deposit  is  being  formed ; 
aud  that  in  the  valley  of  the  ivlississip])i  it  is  a  period  uf 


218  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.    . 

new  coal-basins — seeing  also,  as  we  do,  that  in  one  extensive 
continent  this  is  peculiarly  an  era  of  implacental  mammais, 
and  that  in  another  extensive  continent  it  is  peculiarly  an 
era  of  placental  mammals ;  we  have  good  reason  to 
hesitate  before  accepting  these  sweeping  generalizations 
which  are  based  on  a  cursory  examination  of  strata 
occupying  but  a  tenth  part  of  the  Earth's  surface. 

At  the  outset,  this  article  was  to  have  been  a  review  of 
the  works  of  Hugh  Miller ;  but  it  has  grown  into  something 
much  more  general.  Nevertheless,  the  remaining  two 
doctrines  which  we  propose  to  criticize,  may  conveniently 
be  treated  in  connexion  with  his  name,  as  that  of  one  who 
fully  committed  himself  to  them.  And  first,  a  few  words 
respecting  his  position. 

That  he  was  a  man  whose  life  was  one  of  meritorious 
achievement,  every  one  knows.  That  he  was  a  diligent 
and  successful  working  geologist,  scarcely  needs  saying. 
That  with  indomitable  perseverance  he  struggled  up  from 
obscurity  to  a  place  in  the  world  of  literature  and  science, 
shows  him  to  have  been  highly  endowed  in  character  and 
intelligence.  And  that  he  had  a  remarkable  power  of 
presenting  his  facts  and  arguments  in  an  attractive  form, 
a  glance  at  any  of  his  books  will  quickly  prove.  By  all 
means,  let  us  respect  him  as  a  man  of  activity  and  sagacity, 
joined  with  a  large  amount  of  poetry.  But  while  saying 
this  we  must  add,  that  his  reputation  stands  by  no  means 
so  high  in  the  scientific  world  as  in  the  world  at  large. 
Partly  from  the  fact  that  our  Scotch  neighbours  are  in  the 
liabit  of  blowing  the  trumpet  rather  loudly  before  their 
notabilities — partly  because  the  charming  style  in  which 
his  books  are  written  has  gained  him  a  large  circle  of 
readers — partly,  perhaps,  through  a  praiseworthy  sympathy 
with  him  as  a  self-made  man;  Hugh  Miller  has  met  with 
an  amount  of  applause  which,  little  as  we  wish  to  diminish 
it,  must  not  be  allowed  to  blind  the  public  to  his  defects  aa 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  219 

a.  man  of  science.  Tlie  truth  is,  lie  was  so  far  committed 
to  a  foregone  conclusion,  that  he  could  not  become  a 
philosophical  geologist.  He  might  be  aptly  described  as  a 
theologian  studying  geology.  The  dominant  idea  with 
wliich  he  wrote,  may  be  seen  in  the  titles  of  two  of 
his  books — Footprints  of  the  Creator, — The  Testimony 
of  the  Rocks.  Regarding  geological  facts  as  evidence  for 
or  against  certain  religious  conclusions,  it  was  scarcely 
possible  for  him  to  deal  with  geological  facts  impartially. 
His  ruling  aim  was  to  disprove  the  Development  Hypo- 
thesis, the  assumed  implications  of  which  were  repugnant 
to  him ;  and  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  his  feeling, 
was  the  one-sidedness  of  his  reasoning.  He  admitted  thaD 
"  God  might  as  certainly  have  originated  the  species  by  a 
law  of  development,  as  he  maintains  it  by  a  law  of  develop- 
ment ; — the  existence  of  a  First  Great  Cause  is  as  perfectly 
compatible  with  the  one  scheme  as  with  the  other."  Never- 
theless, he  considered  the  hypothesis  at  variance  with 
Christianity ;  and  therefore  combated  with  it.  He  appar- 
ently overlooked  the  fact,  that  the  doctrines  of  geology  in 
general,  as  held  by  himself,  had  been  rejected  by  many  on 
similar  grounds  ;  and  that  he  had  himself  been  repeatedly 
attacked  for  his  anti-Christian  teachings.  He  seems  not 
to  have  perceived  that,  just  as  his  antagonists  were  wrong 
in  condemning  as  irreligious,  theories  which  he  saw  were 
not  irreligious;  so  might  he  be  wrong  in  condemning,  on 
like  grounds,  the  Theory  of  Evolution.  In  brief,  he  fell 
short  of  that  highest  faith  which  knows  that  all  truths 
must  harmonize;  and  which  is,  therefore,  content  trustfully 
to  follow  the  evidence  whithersoever  it  leads. 

Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  criticize  his  works  without 
entering  on  this  great  question  to  which  he  chiefly  devoted 
himself.  The  two  remaining  doctrines  to  be  here  discussed, 
bear  directly  on  this  question ;  and,  as  above  said,  we 
propose  to  treat  them  in  connexion  v/ith  Hugh  Miller's 
name,  because^  throughout  his  reasonings,  ho  assumes  their 


220  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

tnith.  Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  tliat  we  shall 
aim  to  prove  what  he  has  aimed  to  disprove.  Whilo  -we 
purpose  showing  that  his  geological  arguments  against  the 
Development  Hypothesis  are  based  on  invalid  assumptions ; 
we  do  not  purpose  showing  that  the  geological  arguments 
urged  in  support  of  it  are  based  on  valid  assumptions.  We 
hope  to  make  it  apparent  that  the  geological  evidence  at 
present  obtained,  is  insufficient  for  either  side ;  further, 
that  there  seems  little  probability  that  sufficient  evidence 
will  ever  be  obtained ;  and  that  if  the  question  is  eventually 
decided,  it  must  be  decided  on  other  than  geological  grounds. 

The  first  of  the  current  doctrines  to  which  we  have  jusfc 
referred,  is,  that  there  occur  in  the  serial  records  of  former 
life  on  our  planet,  two  great  blanks  ;  whence  it  is  inferred 
that,  on  at  least  two  occasions,  the  previously  existing  inhab- 
itants of  the  Earth  were  almost  wholly  destroyed,  and  a 
different  class  of  inhabitants  created.  Comparing  the 
general  life  on  the  Earth  to  a  thread,  Hugh  Miller  says  : — 
"  It  is  continuous  from  the  present  time  up  to  the  commencement  of  the 
Tertiary  period ;  and  then  so  abrupt  a  break  occurs,  that,  with  the  exception 
of  the  microscopic  diatomacea3,  to  which  I  last  evening  referred,  and  of  one 
shell  and  one  coral,  not  a  single  species  crossed  the  gap.  On  its  farther  or 
remoter  side,  however,  where  the  Secondary  division  closes,  the  inter- 
mingling of  species  again  begins,  and  runs  on  till  the  commencement  of  this 
great  Secondary  division;  and  then,  just  where  the  Palffiozoic  division 
closes,  we  find  another  abrupt  break,  crossed,  if  crossed  at  all, — for  there 
still  exists  some  doubt  on  the  subject, — by  but  two  species  of  plant." 

'].''hese  breaks  are  supposed  to  imply  actual  new  creations 
on  the  surface  of  our  planet — supposed  not  by  Hugh 
Miller  onl}^,  but  by  the  majority  of  geologists.  And  the 
terms  Palaeozoic,  Mesozoic,  and  Camozoic,  are  used  to 
indicate  these  three  successive  systems  of  life.  It  is  true 
that  some  accept  this  belief  with  caution ;  knowing  how 
geologic  research  hns  been  all  along  tending  to  fill  up  what 
were  once  thought  Avide  gaps.  Sir  Charles  Lyell  points 
out  that  "  the  hiatus  which  exists  in  Great  Britain  between 
the  fossils  of  the  Lias  and  those  of  the  Magnesian  Lirao' 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY.  ^21 

stone,  is  snpplied  in  Germany  by  the  rich  fauna  and  flora 
ot  the  Mui^chelkalk^  Keuper,  and  Bunter  Sandstein,  wliicli 
we  know  to  be  of  a  date  precisely  intermediate.'^  Again 
he  remarks  that  ^^until  lately  the  fossils  of  the  coal-measures 
were  separated  from  those  of  the  antecedent  Silurian  group 
by  a  very  abrupt  and  decided  line  of  demarcation ;  but 
recent  discoveries  have  brought  to  light  in  Devonshire, 
Belgium,  the  Eifel,  and  Westphalia,  the  remains  of  a  fauna 
of  an  intervening  period."  And  once  more,  he  says,  "we 
have  also  in  like  manner  had  some  success  of  late  years  in 
diminishing  the  hiatus  which  still  separates  the  Cretaceous 
and  Eocene  periods  in  Europe."  To  which  let  us  add  that, 
since  Hugh  Miller  penned  the  passage  above  quoted,  the 
second  of  the  great  gaps  he  refers  to  has  been  very  con- 
siderably narrowed  by  the  discovery  of  strata  containing 
Palaeozoic  genera  and  Mesozoic  genera  intermingled.  Never- 
theless, the  occurrence  of  two  great  revolutions  in  the 
Earth's  Flora  and  Fauna  appears  still  to  be  held  by  many  ; 
and  geologic  nomenclature  habitually  assumes  it. 

Before  seeking  a  solution  of  the  problem  thus  raised,  let 
us  glance  at  the  several  minor  causes  which  produce 
breaks  in  the  geological  succession  of  organic  forms ;  taking 
first,  the  more  general  ones  which  modify  climate,  and, 
therefore,  the  distribution  of  life.  Among  these  may  be 
noted  one  which  has  not,  we  believe,  been  named  by 
writers  on  the  subject.  We  mean  that  resulting  from  a 
certain  slow  astronomic  rhythm,  by  which  the  northern 
and  southern  hemispheres  are  alternately  subject  to  greater 
extremes  of  temperature.  In  consequence  of  the  slight 
ellipticity  of  its  orbit,  the  Earth's  distance  from  the  .snn 
varies  to  the  extent  of  some  3,000,000  of  miles.  At  present, 
the  aphelion  occurs  at  the  time  of  our  northern  summer ; 
and  the  perihelion  during  the  summer  of  the  southern 
hemisphere.  In  consecpionce,  however,  of  that  slow  move- 
ment of  the  Earth's  axis  which  produces  the  precession  of 
the  equinoxes,  this  state  of  things  will  in  time  be  reversed: 


222  ILLOGICAL  GEOLOGY. 

the  Eurtli  will  be  nearest  to  the  sun  during  the  summer  of 
the  northern  hemisphere,  and  farthest  from  it  during  the 
southern  summer  or  northern  winter.  The  period  required 
to  complete  the  slow  movement  producing  these  changes, 
is  nearly  2G,000  years ;  and  were  there  no  modifying  process, 
the  two  hemispheres  would  alternately  experience  this 
coincidence  of  summer  with  relative  nearness  to  the  sun, 
during  a  period  of  13,000  years.  But  there  is  also  a  still 
sloAver  change  in  the  direction  of  the  axis  major  of  the 
Earth's  orbit ;  from  which  it  results  that  the  alternation  we 
have  described  is  completed  in  about  21,000  years.  That 
is  to  say,  if  at  a  given  time  the  Earth  is  nearest  to  the  sun 
at  our  mid-summer,  and  furthest  from  the  sun  at  our 
mid- winter;  then,  in  10,500  years  afterwards,  it  will  be 
furthest  from  the  sun  at  our  mid-summer,  and  nearest  at 
our  mid-winter.  Now  the  difference  between  the  distances 
from  the  sun  at  the  two  extremes  of  this  alternation, 
amounts  to  one-thirtieth ;  and  hence,  the  difference  between 
the  quantities  of  heat  received  from  the  sun  on  a  summer's 
day  under  these  opposite  conditions  amounts  to  one-fifteenth. 
Estimating  this,  not  with  reference  to  the  zero  of  our 
thermometers,  but  with  reference  to  the  temperature  of 
the  celestial  spaces.  Sir  John  Herschel  calculates  "23° 
Fahrenheit,  as  the  least  variation  of  temperature  under 
such  circumstances  which  can  reasonably  be  attributed  to 
the  actual  variation  of  the  sun's  distance."  Thus,  then, 
each  hemisphere  has  at  a  certain  epoch,  a  short  summer  of 
extreme  heat,  followed  by  a  long  and  very  cold  winter. 
Through  the  slow  change  in  the  direction  oF  the  Earth's 
axis,  these  extremes  are  gradually  mitigated.  And  at  tbe 
end  of  10,500  years,  there  is  reached  the  opposite  state — 
a  long  and  moderate  summer,  with  a  sliort  and  mild  winter. 
At  present,  in  consequence  of  the  predominance  of  sea  in 
the  southern  lieTuisphere,  the  extremes  to  which  its  astron- 
omical conditions  subject  it,  are  much  ameliorated  ;  while 
the  great  proportion  of  land  in  the  northern  hemisphere. 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOaT.  223 

tends  to  exaggerate  sucli  contrast  as  now  exists  in  it 
between  winter  and  summer :  whence  it  results  that  tlie 
climates  of  the  two  hemispheres  are  not  widely  unlike. 
But  10,000  years  hence,  the  northern  hemisplieie  will 
undergo  annual  variations  of  temperature  far  more  marked 
than  now. 

In  the  last  edition  of  his  Outlines  of  Astronomy,  Sir 
John  Herschel  recognizes  this  as  an  element  in  geological 
processes;  regarding  it  as  possibly  a  part-cause  of  those 
climatic  changes  indicated  by  the  records  of  the  Earth's 
past.  That  it  has  had  much  to  do  with  those  larger 
changes  of  climate  of  which  we  have  evidence,  seems 
unlikely,  since  there  is  reason  to  think  that  these  have 
been  far  slower  and  more  lasting ;  but  that  it  must  have 
entailed  a  rhythmical  exaggeration  and  mitigation  of  the 
climates  otherwise  produced,  seems  beyond  question.  And 
it  seems  also  beyond  question  that  there  must  have  been 
a  consequent  rhythmical  change  in  the  distribution  of 
organisms — a  rhythmical  change  to  which  we  here  wish 
to  draw  attention,  as  one  cause  of  minor  breaks  in  the 
succession  of  fossil  remains.  Each  species  of  plant  and 
animal  has  certain  limits  of  heat  and  cold  within  which 
only  it  can  exist ;  and  these  limits  in  a  great  degree 
determine  its  geographical  position.  It  will  not  spread 
north  of  a  certain  latitude,  because  it  cannot  bear  a  more 
northern  winter,  nor  south  of  a  certain  latitude,  because 
the  summer  heat  is  too  great ;  or  else  it  is  indirectly 
restrained  from  spreading  further  by  the  effect  of  temper- 
ature on  the  humidity  of  the  air,  or  on  the  distribution  of 
the  organisms  it  lives  upon.  But  now,  what  will  result 
from  a  slow  alteration  of  climate,  produced  as  above  de- 
cribed  ?  Supposing  the  period  we  sot  out  from  is  that  in 
which  the  contrast  of  seasons  is  least  marked,  it  is  manifest 
tliat  during  the  progress  towards  the  period  of  most  violent 
contrast,  each  species  of  plant  and  animal  will  gradually 
change  its  limits  of  distribution — will  be  driven  back,  hera 


224  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

by  the  winter's  increasing  cold,  and  tliei*e  by  tlie  summer's 
increasing  heat — will  retire  into  those  localities  that  are 
still  fit  for  it.  Thus  during  10,000  years,  each  species  will 
ebb  away  from  certain  regions  it  was  inhabiting;  and 
during  the  succeeding  10,000  years  will  flow  back  into 
those  regions.  From  the  strata  there  forming,  its  remains 
will  disappear ;  they  will  be  absent  from  some  of  the 
superposed  strata;  and  will  be  found  in  strata  higher  up. 
But  in  what  shapes  will  they  re-appear  ?  Exposed  during 
the  21,000  years  of  their  slow  recession  and  their  slow 
return,  to  changing  conditions  of  life,  they  are  likely  to 
have  undergone  modifications ;  and  will  probably  re-appear 
with  slight  differences  of  constitution  and  perhaps  of  form 
•—will  be  new  varieties  or  perhaps  new  sub-species. 

To  this  cause  of  minor  breaks  in  the  succession  of 
organic  forms— a  cause  on  which  we  have  dwelt  because  it 
has  not  been  taken  into  account — we  must  add  sundry 
others.  Besides  these  periodically-recurring  changes  of 
climate,  there  are  the  irregular  ones  produced  by  re- 
distributions of  land  and  sea ;  and  these,  sometimes  less, 
sometimes  greater,  in  degree,  than  the  rhythmical  changes, 
must,  like  them,  cause  in  each  region  emigrations  and 
immigrations  of  species;  and  consequent  breaks,  small  or 
large  as  the  case  may  be,  in  the  paleontological  series. 
Other  and  more  special  geological  changes  must  produce 
other  and  more  local  blanks  in  the  succession.  By  some 
inland  elevation  the  natural  drainage  of  a  continent  is 
modified;  and  instead  of  the  sediment  previously  brought 
down  to  the  sea  by  it,  a  great  river  brings  down  sediment 
unfavourable  to  various  plants  and  animals  living  in  its 
delta :  whereupon  these  disappear  from  the  locality,  perhaps 
to  re-appear  in  a  changed  form  after  a  long  epoch.  Upheavals 
or  subsidences  of  shores  or  sea-bottoms,  involving  deviations 
of  marine  currents,  remove  the  habitats  of  many  species  to 
which  such  currents  are  salutary  or  injurious  ;  and  further, 
this  redistribution    of  currents  alters   the    places  of  sedi* 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY.  L'2o 

montary  deposits,  and  thus  stops  the  burying  of  organic 
remains  in  some  localities,  while  commencing  it  in  otliers. 
}Iad  we  space,  many  more  such  causes  of  blanks  in  our 
paleontological  records  might  be  added.  But  it  is  needless 
here  to  enumerate  them.  They  are  admirably  explained 
and  illustrated  in  Sir  Charles  Lyell's  Principlei^  of  Geolofftj, 

Now,  if  these  minor  changes  of  the  Earth's  surface 
produce  minor  breaks  in  the  series  of  fossilized  remains ; 
must  not  great  changes  produce  great  breaks  ?  If  a  local 
upheaval  or  subsidence  causes  throughout  its  small  area  the 
absence  of  some  links  in  the  chain  of  fossil  forms ;  does  it 
not  follow  that  an  upheaval  or  subsidence  extending  over  a 
large  part  of  the  Earth's  surface,  must  cause  the  absence  of 
a  great  number  of  such  links  throughout  a  very  wide  area  ? 

When  during  a  long  epoch  a  continent,  slowly  sinking-, 
gives  place  to  a  far-spreading  ocean  some  miles  in  depth,  at 
the  bottom  of  which  no  deposits  from  rivers  or  abraded 
shores  can  be  thrown  down ;  and  when,  after  some  enormous 
period,  this  ocean-bottom  is  gradually  elevated  and  becomes 
the  site  for  new  strata ;  it  is  clear  that  the  fossils  contained 
in  these  new  strata  are  likely  to  have  but  little  in  com- 
mon with  the  fossils  of  the  strata  below  them.  Take,  in 
illustration,  the  case  of  the  North  Atlantic.  We  have 
already  named  the  fact  that  between  this  country  and  the 
United  States,  the  ocean-bottom  is  being  covered  Avith  a 
deposit  of  chalk — a  deposit  which  has  been  forming, 
probably,  ever  since  there  occurred  that  great  depression 
of  the  Earth's  crust  from  which  the  Atlantic  resulted  in 
remote  geologic  times.  This  chalk  consists  of  the  minute 
shells  of  Foraminifera,  sprinkled  with  remains  of  small 
Entomodrnca,  and  probably  a  few  Pteropod-shells ;  though 
the  sounding  lines  liave  not  yet  brought  up  any  of  these  last. 
Thus,  in  so  far  as  all  high  forms  of  life  are  concerned,  this 
new  chalk-formation  must  be  a  blank.  At  rare  intervals, 
])erhaps,  a  polar  bear,  drifted  on  an  iceberg,  may  have  its 
bones  scattered  over  the  bed ;  or  a  dead,  decaying  whalo 


22G  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOaT. 

may  similarly  leave  traces.  But  such  remains  must  be  so 
rai'c^  tliat  this  new  chalk-formation,  if  accessible,  might  be 
examined  for  a  century  before  any  of  them  were  disclosed. 
If  now,  some  millions  of  years  hence,  the  Atlantic-bed 
should  be  raised,  and  estuary  deposits  or  shore  deposits  laid 
upon  it,  these  would  contain  remains  of  a  Flora  and  a  Fauna 
so  distinct  from  everything  below  them,  as  to  appear  like  a 
new  creation. 

Thus,  along  with  continuity  of  life  on  the  Earth's  surface, 
there  not  only  may  be,  but  there  must  be,  great  gaps  in  the 
series  of  fossils;  and  hence  these  gaps  are  no  evidence 
against  the  doctrine  of  Evolution, 

One  other  current  assumption  remains  to  be  criticized ; 
and  it  is  the  one  on  which,  more  than  on  any  other,  depends 
the  view  taken  respecting  the  question  of  development. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  controversy,  the  arguments 
for  and  against  have  turned  upon  the  evidence  of  progres- 
sion in  organic  forms,  found  in  the  ascending  series  of  our 
sedimentary  formations.  On  the  one  hand,  those  who  con- 
tend that  higher  organisms  have  been  evolved  out  of  lower, 
joined  with  those  who  contend  that  successively  higher 
organisms  have  been  created  at  successively  later  periods, 
appeal  for  proof  to  the  facts  of  Paleontology ;  which,  they 
say,  countenance  their  views.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Uni- 
formitarians,  who  not  only  reject  the  hypothesis  of  develop- 
ment, but  deny  that  the  modern  forms  of  life  are  higher 
than  the  ancient  ones,  reply  that  the  paleontologiciil 
evidence  is  at  present  very  incomplete;  that  though  we 
have  not  yet  found  remains  of  highly-organized  creatures 
in  strata  of  the  greatest  antiquity,  we  must  not  assume  that 
no  siich  creatures  existed  when  those  strata  were  deposited; 
and  that,  probably,  search  will  eventually  disclose  them. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  thus  far,  the  evidence  has  gone 
in  favour  of  the  latter  party.  Geological  discovery  has  year 
after  year  shown  the  small  value  of  negative  facta.     The 


ILLOGICAL  GEOLOGY. 


9)7 


conviction  that  there  are  no  traces  of  higher  organisms  in 
earlier  strata,  has  resulted  not  from  the  absence  of  such 
traces,  but  from  incomplete  examination.  At  p.  460  of  his 
Manual  of  Elementary  Geology,  Sir  Charles  Lyell  gives  a 
list  in  illustration  of  this.  It  appears  that  in  1709,  fishes 
were  not  known  lower  than  the  Permian  system.  In  1793 
they  were  found  in  the  subjacent  Carboniferous  system ;  in 
1828  in  the  Devonian;  in  1840  in  the  Upper  Silurian.  Of 
reptiles,  we  read  that  in  1710  the  lowest  known  were  in  the 
Permian;  in  1844  they  were  detected  in  the  Carboniferous; 
and  in  1852  in  the  Upper  Devonian.  While  of  the  Mam- 
malia the  list  shows  that  in  1798  none  had  been  dis- 
covered below  the  Middle  Eocene:  but  that  in  1818  they 
were  discovered  in  the  Lower  Oolite;  and  in  1847  in  the 
Upper  Trias. 

The  fact  is,  however,  that  both  parties  set  out  with  an 
inadmissible  postulate.  Of  the  Uniformitarians,  not  only 
such  writers  as  Hugh  Miller,  but  also  such  as  Sir  Charles 
Lyell,*  reason  as  though  we  had  found  the  earliest,  or  some- 
thing like  the  earliest,  strata.  Their  antagonists,  whether 
defenders  of  the  Development  Hypothesis  or  simply  Pro- 
gi'essionists,  almost  uniformly  do  the  like.  Sir  K.  Murchison, 
who  is  a  Progressionist,  calls  the  lowest  fossiliferous  strata, 
"  Protozoic."  Prof.  Ansted  uses  the  same  term.  Whether 
avowedly  or  not,  all  the  disputants  stand  on  this  assumption 
as  their  common  ground. 

Yet  is  this  assumption  indefensible,  as  some  who  make  it 
very  well  know.  Facts  may  be  cited  against  it  which  show 
that  it  is  a  more  than  questionable  one — that  it  is  a  highly 
improbable  one ;  while  the  evidence  assigned  in  its  favour 
will  not  bear  criticism. 

Because  in  Bohemia,  Great  Britain,  and  portions  of  North 
America,  the  lowest  unmetamorpbosed  strata  yet  discovered, 

*  Sir  Charles  Lyell  is  no  longer  to  be  classed  among  Uniformitarians. 
With  rare  and  admirable  candour  he  has,  since  this  waa  written,  yielded  to 
the  arguments  of  Mr.  Darwia. 


228  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

contain  but  slight  traces  of  life.  Sir  R.  Murcliison  conceives 
that  they  were  formed  while  yet  few,  if  any,  plants  or 
animals  had  been  created ;  and,  therefore,  classes  them  as 
"Azoic."  His  own  pages,  however,  show  the  illegitimacy 
of  the  conclusion  that  there  existed  at  that  period  no  con- 
siderable amount  of  life.  Such  traces  of  life  as  have  been 
found  in  the  Longmynd  rocks,  for  many  years  considered 
tinfossiliferous,  have  been  found  in  some  of  the  lowest  beds; 
and  the  twenty  thousand  feet  of  superposed  beds,  still  yield 
no  organic  remains.  If  now  these  superposed  strata 
throughout  a  depth  of  four  miles,  are  without  fossils,  though 
the  strata  over  which  they  lie  prove  that  life  had  com- 
menced ;  what  becomes  of  Sir  R.  Murchison's  inference  ? 
At  page  189  of  Siluria,  a  still  more  conclusive  fact  will  be 
found.  The  ''  Gleugariff  grits,"  and  other  accompanying 
strata  there  described  as  13,500  feet  thick,  contain  no  signs 
of  contemporaneous  life.  Yet  Sir  R.  Murchison  refers 
them  to  the  Devonian  period — a  period  which  had  a  large 
and  varied  marine  Fauna.  How  then,  from  the  absence 
of  fossils  in  the  Longmynd  beds  and  their  equivalents,  can 
we  conclude  that  the  Earth  was  "  azoic "  when  they 
were  formed  ? 

"  But,"  it  may  be  asked,  "  if  living  creatures  then  existed, 
why  do  we  not  find  fossiliferous  strata  of  that  age,  or  an 
earlier  age  ?  "  One  reply  is,  that  the  non-existence  of  such 
strata  is  but  a  negative  fact — we  have  not  found  them. 
And  considering  how  little  we  know  even  of  the  two-fifths 
of  the  Earth's  surface  now  above  the  sea,  and  how  absolutely 
ignorant  we  are  of  the  three-fifths  below  the  sea,  it  is  rash 
to  say  that  no  such  strata  exist.  But  the  chief  reply  is, 
that  these  records  of  the  Earth's  earlier  history  have  been 
in  great  part  destroyed,  by  agencies  which  are  ever  tending 
to  destroy  such  records. 

It  is  an  established  geological  doctrine,  that  sedimentary 
strata  are  liable  to  be  changed,  more  or  less  profoundly,  by 
igneous  action.     The  rocks  originally  classed  as  "transition," 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY.  220 

becanse  they  were  intermediate  in  cliaracter  between  the 
igneous  rocks  found  below  them,  and  the  sedimentary  strata 
found  above  them,  are  now  known  to  be  nothing  else  than 
sedimentary  strata  altered  in  texture  and  appearance  by 
the  intense  heat  of  adjacent  molten  matter ;  and  hence  are 
renamed  "  metamorphic  rocks."  Modern  researches  have 
shown,  too,  that  these  metamorphic  rocks  are  not,  as  was 
once  supposed,  all  of  the  same  age.  Besides  primary  and 
secondary  strata  which  have  been  transformed  by  igneous 
action,  there  are  similarly-changed  deposits  of  tertiary 
origin — deposits  changed,  even  as  far  as  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  the  point  of  contact  with  neighbouring  granite.  By 
this  process  fossils  are  of  course  destroyed.  "In  some  cases," 
says  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  "dark  limestones,  replete  with  sheila 
and  corals,  have  been  turned  into  white  statuary  marble, 
and  hard  clays,  containing  vegetable  or  other  remains,  into 
slates  called  mica-schist  or  hornblende-schist ;  every  vestige 
of  the  organic  bodies  having  been  obliterated."  Again,  it 
is  fast  becoming  an  acknowledged  truth  that  igneous  rock, 
of  whatever  kind,  is  the  product  of  sedimentary  strata  which 
have  been  completely  melted.  Granite  and  gneiss,  which 
are  of  like  chemical  composition,  have  been  shown,  in  various 
cases,  to  pass  one  into  the  other ;  as  at  Valorsine,  near 
Mont  Blanc,  where  the  two,  in  contact,  are  observed  to 
*'  both  undergo  a  modification  of  mineral  character. 
The  granite  still  remaining  unstratified,  becomes  charged 
with  green  particles ;  and  the  talcose  gneiss  assumes  a 
granitiform  structure  without  losing  its  stratification." 
In  the  Aberdeen-granite,  lumps  of  unmelted  gneiss  are 
abundant;  and  we  can  ourselves  bear  witness  that  the 
granite  on  the  banks  of  Loch  Sunart  yields  proofs  that,  when 
molten,  it  contained  incompletely-fused  clots  of  sedimentary 
strata.  Nor  is  this  all.  Fifty  years  ago,  it  was  thought 
that  all  granitic  rocks  were  primitive,  or  existed  before  any 
sedimentary  strata ;  but  it  is  now  "  no  easy  task  to  point 
out  a  siiiu'le   mass   of  UTanitC   deinoustmblv  more   uncienc 


230  ILLOGICAL  GEOLOGY. 

than  all  the  known  fossiliferous  deposits."  In  brief, 
accumulated  evidence  shows,  that  by  contact  with,  or 
proximity  to,  the  molten  matter  of  the  Earth's  nucleus,  all 
beds  of  sediment  are  liable  to  be  actually  melted,  or  par 
tially  fused,  or  so  heated  as  to  agglutinate  their  particles ; 
and  that  according  to  the  temperature  they  have  been 
raised  to,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  they  cool,  they 
assume  the  forms  of  granite,  porphyry,  trap,  gneiss,  or  rock 
otherwise  altered.  Further,  it  is  manifest  that  though 
Btrata  of  various  ages  have  been  thus  changed,  yet  the 
most  ancient  strata  have  been  so  changed  to  the  greatest 
extent ;  both  because  they  have  been  nearer  to  the  centre 
of  igneous  agency ;  and  because  they  have  been  for  longer 
periods  liable  to  be  affected  by  it.  Whence  it  follows,  that 
sedimentary  strata  passing  a  certain  antiquity,  are  unlikely 
to  be  found  in  an  unmetamorphosed  state ;  and  that  strata 
much  earlier  than  these  are  certain  to  have  been  melted  up. 
Thus  if,  throughout  a  past  of  indefinite  duration,  there  had 
been  at  work  those  aqueous  and  igneous  agencies  which  we 
see  still  at  work,  the  state  of  the  Earth's  crust  might  be 
just  what  we  find  it.  We  have  no  evidence  which  puts  c» 
limit  to  the  period  throughout  which  this  formation  and 
destruction  of  strata  has  been  going  on.  For  aught  the  facts 
prove,  it  may  have  been  going  on  for  ten  times  the  period 
measured  by  our  whole  series  of  sedimentary  deposits. 

Besides  having,  in  the  present  appearances  of  the  Earth's 
crust,no  data  for  fixing  a  comraencementto these  processes — 
besides  finding  that  the  evidence  permits  us  to  assume 
such  commencement  to  have  been  inconceivably  remote,  as 
compared  even  with  the  vast  eras  of  geology;  we  are  not 
without  positive  grounds  for  inferring  the  inconceivable 
remoteness  of  such  commencement.  Modern  geology  has 
established  truths  which  are  irreconcilable  with  the  belief 
that  the  formation  and  destruction  of  strata  began  when 
the  Cambrian  rocks  were  formed;  or  at  anything  like  so 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  231 

recent  a  time.  One  fact  from  Siluria  will  suffice.  Sir 
R.  Murcbison  estimates  the  vertical  thickness  of  Silurian 
strata  in  Wales,  at  from  26,000  to  27,000  feet,  or  about  five 
miles ;  and  if  to  this  we  add  the  vertical  depth  of  the 
Cambrian  strata,  on  which  the  Silurians  lie  conformably, 
there  results,  on  the  lowest  computation,  a  total  depth  of 
some  seven  miles.  Now  it  is  held  by  geologists,  that  this 
vast  series  of  formations  must  have  been  deposited  in  an 
area  of  gradual  subsidence.  These  beds  could  not  have 
been  thus  laid  one  on  another  in  regular  order,  unless  the 
Earth's  crust  had  been  at  that  place  sinking,  either  con- 
tinuously or  by  small  steps.  Such  an  immense  subsidence, 
however,  must  have  been  impossible  without  a  crust  of  great 
thickness.  The  Earth's  molten  nucleus  tends  ever,  with 
enormous  force,  to  assume  the  form  of  a  regular  oblate 
spheroid.  Any  depression  of  its  crust  below  the  surface  of 
equilibrium,  and  any  elevation  of  its  crust  above  that 
surface,  have  to  withstand  immense  resistances.  It  follows 
inevitably  that,  with  a  thin  crust,  nothing  but  small  elevations 
and  subsidences  would  have  been  possible ;  and  that,  con- 
versely, a  subsidence  of  seven  miles  implies  a  crust  of  great 
strength,  or,  in  other  words,  of  great  thickness.  Indeed, 
if  we  compare  this  inferred  subsidence  in  the  Silurian  period, 
with  such  elevations  and  depressions  as  our  existing  con- 
tinents and  oceans  display,  we  see  no  evidence  that  the 
Earth's  crust  was  appreciably  thinner  then  than  now. 
What  are  the  implications  ?  If,  as  geologists  generally 
admit,  the  Earth's  crust  has  resulted  from  that  slow  cooling 
which  is- even  still  going  on — if  we  see  no  sign  that  at  the 
time  when  the  earliest  Cambrian  strata  were  formed,  this 
crust  was  appreciably  thinner  than  now;  we  are  forced 
to  conclude  that  the  era  during  which  it  acquired  that  great 
thickness  possessed  in  the  Cambrian  period,  was  enormous 
as  compared  with  the  interval  between  the  Cambrian  period 
and  our  own.     But  during  the  incalculable  series  of  epochs 

thus  implied,  there  existed  an  ocean,  tides,  winds,  waves, 
10 


232  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY. 

rain,  rivers.  The  agencies  by  wliich  tlie  denudation  of 
continents  and  fiUins^  up  of  seas  have  all  along  been  carried 
on,  were  as  active  then  as  now.  Endless  successions  of 
strata  must  have  been  formed.  AndAvhen  we  ask — Where 
are  they  ?  Nature's  obvious  reply  is — They  have  been 
destroyed  by  that  igneous  action  to  which  so  great  a  part  of 
our  oldest-known  strata  owe  their  fusion  or  metamorphosis. 

Only  the  last  chapter  of  the  Earth's  history  has  come 
down  to  us.  The  many  previous  chapters,  stretching  back 
to  a  time  immeasurably  remote,  have  been  burnt;  and  with 
them  all  the  records  of  life  we  may  presume  they  contained. 
The  greater  part  of  the  evidence  which  might  have  serve  I 
to  settle  the  Development-controversy,  is  for  ever  lost;  ai"' 
on  neither  side  can  the  arguments  derived  from  Geology 
be  conclusive. 

"But  hoAv  happen  there  to  be  such  evidences  of  progres- 
sion as  exist?"  it  may  be  asked.  ''How  happens  it  that,  iu 
ascending  from  the  most  ancient  strata  to  the  most  recent 
strata,  we  do  find  a  succession  of  organic  forms,  whicli, 
however  irregularly,  carries  us  from  lower  to  higher  ? " 
This  question  seems  difficult  to  answer.  Nevertheless,  there 
is  reason  for  thinking  that  nothing  can  be  safely  inferred 
from  the  apparent  progression  here  cited.  And  the  illustra- 
tion wliich  shows  as  much,  will,  we  believe,  also  show  how 
little  trust  is  to  be  placed  in  certain  geological  generaliza- 
tions that  appear  to  be  well  established.  With  this  some- 
what elaborate  illustration,  to  which  we  now  pass,  our 
criticisms  may  fitly  conclude. 

Let  us  suppose  that  in  a  region  now  covered  by  v>\c\q 
ocean,  there  begins  one  of  those  great  and  gradual  uphea\  als 
by  which  new  coutiuents  are  formed.  To  be  precise,  let  ns 
say  that  in  the  South  Pacific,  midway  between  New  Zealand 
and  Patagonia,  the  sea-bottom  has  been  little  by  little  thri  sfe 
up  toward  the  surface,  and  is  about  to  emerge.  What  will 
be  the  successive  phenomena,  geological  and  biologicalj  whii  b 


ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY.  233 

are  likely  to  occnr  before  tliis  emerging  sea-bottom  lias  be- 
come another  Europe  or  Asia  ?  In  the  first  place,  such  por- 
tions of  the  incipient  land  as  are  raised  to  the  level  of  the 
waves,  will  be  rapidly  denuded  by  them :  their  soft  substance 
will  be  torn  up  by  the  breakers,  carried  away  by  the  local 
currents,  and  deposited  in  neighbouring  deeper  water.  Suc- 
cessive small  upheavals  will  bring  new  and  larger  areas 
within  reach  of  the  waves ;  fresh  portions  will  each  time  be 
removed  from  the  surfaces  previously  denuded ;  and  further, 
some  of  the  newly-formed  strata,  being  elevated  nearly  to 
trhe  level  of  the  water,  will  be  washed  away  and  re-deposited. 
In  course  of  time  the  harder  formations  of  the  upraised 
sea-bottom  will  be  uncovered.  These,  being  less  easily 
destroyed,  will  remain  permanently  above  the  surface;  and 
at  their  margins  will  arise  the  usual  breaking  down  of  rocks 
into  beach-sand  and  pebbles.  While  in  the  slow  course  of 
this  elevation,  going  on  at  the  rate  of  perhaps  two  or  three 
feet  in  a  century,  most  of  the  sedimentary  deposits  pro- 
duced will  be  again  and  again  destroyed  and  reformed; 
there  will,  in  those  adjacent  areas  of  subsidence  which 
accompany  areas  of  elevation,  be  more  or  less  continuous 
successions  of  sedimentary  deposits  lying  on  the  pre-exist- 
ing ocean  bed.  And  now,  what  will  be  the  character  of 
these  strata,  old  and  new  ?  They  will  contain  scarcely  any 
traces  of  life.  The  deposits  that  had  previously  been  slowly 
formed  at  the  bottom  of  this  wide  ocean,  would  be  sprinkled 
with  fossils  of  but  few  species.  The  oceanic  Fauna  is  not 
a  rich  one ;  its  hydrozoa  do  not  admit  of  preservation ;  and 
the  hard  parts  of  its  few  kinds  of  molluscs  and  crustaceans 
and  insects  are  mostly  fragile.  Hence,  wdien  the  ocean-bed 
was  here  and  there  raised  to  the  surface — when  its  strata  of 
sediment  with  their  contained  organic  fragments  were  torn 
up  and  long  washed  about  by  the  breakers  before  being 
re-deposited — when  the  re-deposits  were  again  and  again 
subject  to  this  violent  abrading  action  by  subsequent  small 
elevations,  as   they   would   mostly   be ;   what  few  fragile 


234  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY. 

organic  remains  they  contained,  would  be  in  nearly  all  cases 
destroyed.  Thus  such  of  the  first- formed  strata  as  survived 
the  repeated  changes  of  level,  would  be  practically  "azoic; '* 
like  the  Cambrian  of  our  geologists.  When  by  the  washing 
away  of  the  soft  deposits,  the  hard  sub-strata  had  been 
exposed  in  the  shape  of  rocky  islets,  and  a  footing  had  thus 
been  furnished,  the  pioneers  of  a  new  life  might  be  expected 
to  make  their  appearance.  What  would  they  be  ?  Not  any 
of  the  surrounding  oceanic  species,  for  these  are  not  fitted 
for  a  littoral  life ;  but  species  flourishing  on  some  of  the  far- 
distant  shores  of  the  Pacific.  Of  such,  the  first  to  establish 
themselves  would  be  sea-weeds  and  zoophytes ;  because  the 
most  readily  conveyed  on  floating  wood,  &c.,  and  because 
when  conveyed  they  would  find  fit  food.  It  is  true  that 
Cirrhipeds  and  Lamellibranchs,  subsisting  on  the  minute 
creatures  which  everywhere  people  the  sea,  would  also  find 
fit  food.  But  the  chances  of  early  colonization  are  in  favour 
of  species  which,  multiplying  by  agamogenesis,  can  people 
a  whole  shore  from  a  single  germ;  and  against  species 
which,  multiplying  only  by  gamogenesis,  nmst  be  intro- 
duced in  considerable  numbers  that  some  may  propagate. 
Thus  we  infer  that  the  earliest  traces  of  life  left  in  the 
sedimentary  deposits  near  these  new  shores,  will  be  traces 
of  life  as  humble  as  that  indicated  in  the  most  ancient  rocks 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Imagine  now  that  the  pro- 
cesses above  indicated,  continue — that  the  emerging  lands 
become  wider  in  extent,  and  fringed  by  higher  and  more 
varied  shores;  and  that  there  still  go  on  those  ocean-currents 
which,  at  long  intervals,  convey  from  far  distant  shores 
immigrant  forms  of  life.  What  will  result?  Lapse  of  time 
will  of  course  favour  the  introduction  of  such  new  forms : 
admitting,  as  it  must,  of  those  combinations  of  fit  conditions, 
which  can  occur  only  after  long  intervals.  Moreover,  the 
increasing  area  of  the  islands,  individually  and  as  a  group, 
implies  increasing  length  of  coast,  and  therefore  a  longer 
line  of  Contact  with  the  streams  and  waves  which  brinij 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  235 

drifting  masses  bearing  germs  of  fresh  life.  And  once 
more,  the  comparatively-varied  shores,  presenting  physical 
conditions  which  change  from  mile  to  mile,  will  furnish 
suitable  habitats  for  more  numerous  species.  So  that  as  the 
elevation  proceeds,  three  causes  conspire  to  introduce  ad- 
ditional marine  plants  and  animals.  To  what  classes  will 
the  increasing  Fauna  be  for  a  long  period  confined  ?  Of 
course,  to  classes  of  which  individuals,  or  their  germs,  are 
most  liable  to  be  carried  far  away  from  their  native  shores 
by  floating  sea- weed  or  drift-wood;  to  classes  which  aro 
also  least  likely  to  perish  in  transit,  or  from  change  of 
climate ;  and  to  those  which  can  best  subsist  around  coasts 
comparatively  bare  of  life.  Evidently  then,  corals,  annelids, 
inferior  molluscs,  and  crustaceans  of  low  grade,  will  chiefly 
constitute  the  early  Fauna.  The  large  predatory  members 
of  these  classes,  will  be  later  in  establishing  themselves ; 
both  because  the  new  shores  must  first  become  well  peopled 
by  the  creatures  they  prey  on,  and  because,  being  more 
complex,  they,  or  their  ova,  must  be  less  likely  to  survive 
the  journey,  and  the  change  of  conditions.  We  may  infer, 
then,  that  the  strata  deposited  next  after  the  almost 
•^ azoic"  strata,  would  contain  the  remains  of  invertebrata, 
allied  to  those  found  near  the  shores  of  Australia  and  South 
America.  Of  such  invertebrate  remains,  the  lower  beds 
would  furnish  comparatively  few  genera,  and  those  of 
relatively  low  types ;  while  in  the  upper  beds  the  number  of 
genera  would  be  greater,  and  the  types  higher:  just  as 
among  the  fossils  of  our  Silurian  system.  As  this  great 
geologic  change  slowly  advanced  through  its  long  history 
of  earthquakes,  volcanic  disturbances,  minor  upheavals  and 
subsidences — as  the  extent  of  the  archipelago  became 
greater  and  its  smaller  islands  coalesced  into  larger  ones, 
while  its  coast-line  grew  still  longer  and  more  varied,  and 
the  neighbouring  sea  more  thickly  inhabited  by  inferior 
forms  of  life  ;  the  lowest  division  of  the  vertebrata  would 
begin    to   be    represented.     In  order  of  time,  fish    would 


2-Sr)  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY. 

naturany  come  later  ttan  tlie  lower  invorfcebrata ;  botli  as 
being  less  likely  to  have  their  ova  transported  across  the 
waste  of  waters,  and  as  requiring  for  their  subsistence  a 
pre-existing  Fauna  of  some  development.  They  might  be 
expected  to  make  their  appearance  along  with  the  pre- 
daceous  crustaceans ;  as  they  do  in  the  uppermost  Silurian 
rocks.  And  here,  too,  let  us  remark,  that  as,  during  this 
long  epoch  we  have  been  describing,  the  sea  would  have 
made  great  inroads  on  some  of  the  newly -raised  lands  which 
had  remained  stationary;  and  would  probably  in  some 
places  have  reached  masses  of  igneous  or  metamorphic 
rocks ;  there  might,  in  course  of  time,  arise  by  the  decom- 
position and  denudation  of  such  rocks,  local  deposits  coloured 
with  oxide  of  iron,  like  our  Old  Red  Sandstone.  And  in 
these  deposits  might  be  buried  the  remains  of  the  fish  then 
peopling  the  neighbouring  sea. 

Meanwhile,  how  would  the  surfaces  of  the  upheaved 
masses  be  occupied  ?  At  first  their  deserts  of  naked 
rocks  would  bear  only  the  humblest  forms  of  vegetal  life, 
such  as  we  find  in  grey  and  orange  patches  on  our  own 
rugged  mountain  sides ;  for  these  alone  could  flourish  on 
such  surfaces,  and  their  spores  would  be  the  most  readily 
transported.  AVhen,  by  the  decay  of  such  protophytes,  and 
that  decomposition  of  rock  effected  by  them,  there  had 
resulted  a  fit  habitat  for  mosses ;  these,  of  which  the  germs 
might  be  conveyed  in  drifted  trees,  would  begin  to  spread. 
A  soil  having  been  eventually  thus  produced,  it  would  be- 
come possible  for  plants  of  higher  organization  to  find 
roothold  ;  and  as  the  archipelago  and  its  constituent  islands 
grew  larger,  and  had  more  multiplied  relations  with  winds 
and  waters,  such  higher  plants  might  be  expected  ultimately 
to  have  their  seeds  transferred  from  the  nearest  lands. 
After  something  like  a  Flora  had  thus  colonized  the  surface, 
it  would  become  possible  for  insects  to  exist ;  and  of  air- 
breathing  creatures,  insects  would  manifestly  be  among  the 
first  to  find  their  way  from  elsewhere.    As,  however,  tcrr&«« 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  ^n 

trial  organismSj  both  vegetal  and  animal,  are  less  likely 
than  marine  organisms  to  survive  the  accidents  of  transport 
i'rom  distant  shores ;  it  is  inferable  that  long  after  the  sea 
surrounding  these  new  lands  had  acquired  a  varied  Flora 
and  Fauna,  the  lands  themselves  would  still  be  compara- 
tively bare ;  and  thus  that  the  early  strata,  like  our 
Silurians,  would  afford  no  traces  of  terrestrial  life.  By 
the  time  that  large  areas  had  beien  raised  above  the  ocean, 
we  may  fairly  suppose  a  luxuriant  vegetation  to  have  been 
acquired.  Under  what  circumstances  are  we  likely  to  find 
this  vegetation  fossilized  ?  Large  surfaces  of  land  imply- 
large  rivers  with  their  accompanying  deltas  ;  and  are  liable 
to  have  lakes  and  swamps.  These,  as  we  know  from  extant 
cases,  are  favourable  to  rank  vegetation ;  and  afford  the 
conditions  needful  for  preserving  it  in  coal-beds.  Observe, 
then,  that  while  in  the  early  history  of  such  a  continent  a 
carboniferous  period  could  not  occur,  the  occurrence  of  a 
carboniferous  period  would  become  probable  after  long- 
continued  upheavals  had  uncovered  large  areas.  As  in  our 
own  sedimentary  series,  coal-beds  would  make  their  appear- 
ance only  after  there  had  been  enormous  accumulations  of 
earlier  strata  charged  with  marine  fossils. 

Let  us  ask  next,  in  what  order  the  higher  forms  of  animal 
life  would  make  their  appearance.  We  have  seen  how,  in 
the  succession  of  marine  forms,  there  would  be  something 
like  a  progress  from  the  lower  to  the  higher :  bringing  ua 
in  the  end  to  predaceous  molluscs,  crustaceans,  and  fish. 
What  are  likely  to  succeed  fish  ?  After  marine  creatures, 
those  which  would  have  the  greatest  chance  of  surviving 
tlie  voyage  would  be  amphibious  reptiles;  both  because 
they  are  more  tenacious  of  life  than  higher  animals,  and 
because  they  would  be  less  completely  out  of  their  element. 
Such  reptiles  as  can  live  in  both  fresh  and  salt  water,  like 
alligators;  and  such  as  are  drifted  out  of  the  mouths  of 
great  rivers  on  floating  trees,  as  Humboldt  says  the  Orinoco 


238  ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY. 

alligators  are ;  might  be  early  colonists.  It  is  manifest, 
too,  that  reptiles  of  other  kinds  would  be  among  the  first 
vcrtebrata  to  people  the  new  continent.  If  we  consider 
what  will  occur  on  one  of  those  natural  rafts  of  trees,  soil, 
and  matted  vegetable  matter,  sometimes  swept  out  to  sea 
by  such  currents  as  the  Mississippi,  with  a  miscellaneous 
living  cargo  ;  we  shall  see  that  while  the  active,  hot-blooded, 
highly-organized  creatures  will  soon  die  of  starvation  and 
exposure,  the  inert,  cold-blooded  ones,  which  can  go  long 
without  food,  will  live  perhaps  for  weeks ;  and  so,  out  of 
the  chances  from  time  to  time  occurring  during  long  periods, 
reptiles  will  be  the  first  to  get  safely  landed  on  foreign 
shores :  as  indeed  they  are  even  now  known  sometimes  to  be. 
The  transport  of  mammalia  being  comparatively  precarious, 
must,  in  the  order  of  probability,  be  longer  postponed;  and 
would,  indeed,  be  unlikely  to  occur  until  by  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  new  continent,  the  distances  of  its  shores  from 
adjacent  lands  had  been  greatly  diminished,  or  the  forma- 
tion of  intervening  islands  had  increased  the  chances  of 
survival.  Assuming,  however,  that  the  facilities  for  immi- 
gration had  become  adequate ;  which  would  be  the  first 
mammals  to  arrive  and  live  ?  Not  large  herbivores ;  for 
they  would  be  soon  drowned  if  by  any  accident  carried  out 
to  sea.  Not  the  carnivora ;  for  these  would  lack  appropriate 
food,  even  if  they  outlived  the  voyage.  Small  quadrupeds 
frequenting  trees,  and  feeding  on  insects,  would  be  those 
most  likely  both  to  be  drifted  away  from  their  native  lands 
and  to  find  fit  food  in  a  new  one.  Insectivorous  mammals, 
like  in  size  to  those  found  in  the  Trias  and  the  Stonesfield 
elate,  might  naturally  be  looked  for  as  the  pioneers  of  the 
higher  vertebrata.  And  if  we  suppose  the  facilities  of 
communication  to  be  again  increased,  either  by  a  further 
shallowing  of  the  intervening  sea  and  a  consequent  multi- 
plication of  islands,  or  by  an  actual  junction  of  the  new 
continent  with  an  old  one,  through  continued  upheavals; 


ILLOGICAL   GEOLOGY.  239 

we  should  finally  have  an  influx  of  the  larger  and  more 
perfect  mammals. 

Now  rude  as  is  this  sketch  of  a  process  that  would  be  ex- 
tremely elaborate  and  involved,  and  open  as  some  of  its 
propositions  are  to  criticisms  which  there  is  no  space  here 
to  meet;  no  one  will  deny  that  it  represents  something 
like  the  biologic  history  of  the  supposed  new  continent. 
Details  apart,  it  is  manifest  that  simple  organisms,  able  to 
flourish  under  simple  conditions  of  life,  would  be  the  first 
successful  immigrants ;  and  that  more  complex  organisms, 
needing  for  their  existence  the  fulfilment  of  more  complex 
conditions,  would  afterwards  establish  themselves  in  some- 
thing like  an  ascending  succession.  At  the  one  extreme 
we  see  every  facility.  The  new  individuals  can  be  con- 
veyed in  the  shape  of  minute  germs ;  immense  numbers  of 
these  are  perpetually  being  carried  in  all  directions  to  great 
distances  by  ocean-currents — either  detached  or  attached 
to  floating  bodies ;  they  can  find  nutriment  wherever  they 
arrive ;  and  the  resulting  organisms  can  multiply  asexually 
with  great  rapidity.  At  the  other  extreme,  we  see  every 
difficulty.  The  new  individuals  must  be  conveyed  in  their 
adult  forms ;  their  numbers  are,  in  comparison,  utterly 
insignificant;  they  live  on  land,  and  are  very  unlikely  to 
be  carried  out  to  sea;  when  so  carried,  the  chances  are 
immense  against  their  escape  from  drowning,  starvation, 
or  death  by  cold ;  if  they  survive  the  transit,  they  must 
have  a  pre-existing  Flora  or  Fauna  to  supply  their  special 
food;  they  require,  also,  the  fulfilment  of  various  other 
physical  conditions;  and  unless  at  least  two  individuals  of 
different  sexes  are  safely  landed,  the  race  cannot  be  estab" 
lished.  Manifestly,  then,  the  immigration  of  each  succes- 
sively higher  order  of  organisms,  having,  from  one  or  other 
additional  condition  to  be  fulfilled,  an  enormously-increased 
probability  against  it,  would  naturally  be  separated  from 
the  immigration  of  a  lower  order  by  some  period  like  a 
geologic   epoch.      And   thus   the    successive   sedimentary 


?.  10  ILLOGICAL    GEOLOGY. 

tleposits  formed  wlii'le  this  new  continent  was  undergoing 
gradual  elevation,  would  seem  to  furnish  clear  evidence  of 
a  general  progress  in  the  forms  of  life.  That  lands  thus 
raised  up  in  the  midst  of  a  wide  ocean,  would  first  give 
origin  to  unfossiliferous  strata ;  next,  to  strata  containing 
only  the  lowest  marine  forms ;  next  to  strata  containing  only 
the  higher  marine  forms,  ascending  finally  to  fish  ;  and  that 
the  strata  above  these  would  contain  reptiles,  then  small 
mammals,  then  great  mammals  ;  seems  to  us  demonstrable. 
And  if  the  succession  of  fossils  presented  by  the  strata  of 
this  supposed  new  continent,  would  thus  simulate  the  suc- 
cession presented  by  our  own  sedimentary  series  ;  must  we 
not  conclude  that  our  own  sedimentary  series  very  possibly 
records  nothing  more  than  the  phenomena  accompanying  one 
of  these  great  upheavals  ?  The  probability  of  this  conclusion 
being  admitted,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  facts  of  Pale- 
ontology can  never  suSice  either  to  prove  or  disprove  the 
Development  Hypothesis ;  but  that  the  most  they  can  do  is 
to  show  whether  the  last  few  pages  of  the  Earth's  biologic 
history,  are  or  are  not  in  harmony  with  this  hypothesis — 
whether  the  existing  Flora  and  Fauna  can  or  can  not  be 
affiliated  upon  the  Flora  and  Fauna  of  the  most  recent 
geologic  times. 


BAIN"  ON  THE  EMOTIONS  AND  THE  WILL. 

[First  published  in  The  Medico-Cliirurgical  Review /or  January, 
1860.] 

After  tte  controversy  between  tlie  Neptunists  and  tlie 
Vulcanists  liad  been  long  carried  on  without  definite  re- 
Bults,  there  came  a  reaction  against  all  speculative  geology, 
lleasoning  without  adequate  data  having  led  to  nothing, 
inquirers  went  into  the  opposite  extreme,  and  confining 
themselves  wholly  to  collecting  data,  relinquished  reasoning. 
The  Geological  Society  of  London  was  formed  with  the 
express  object  of  accumulating  evidence ;  for  many  years 
hypotheses  were  forbidden  at  its  meetings  :  and  only  of 
late  have  attempts  to  organize  the  mass  of  observations 
into  consistent  theory  been  tolerated. 

This  reaction  and  subsequent  re-reaction,  well  illustrate 
the  recent  history  of  English  thought  in  general.  The 
time  was  when  our  countrymen  speculated,  certainly  to  as 
great  an  extent  as  any  other  people,  on  all  those  high 
(juestions  which  present  themselves  to  the  human  intellect; 
and,  indeed,  a  glance  at  the  systems  of  philosophy  that 
are  or  have  been  current  on  the  Continent,  suffices  to 
show  how  much  other  nations  owe  to  the  discoveries  of  our 
ancestors.  For  a  generation  or  two,  however,  these  more 
al)stiact  subjects  have  fallen  into  neglect;  and,  among 
tlioso  wlio  ])lume  themselves  on  being  "practical,"  even 
iuio  cuuLcmpt.     Partly,  perhaps,  a  natural  accompaniment 


242  BAIN   ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL. 

of  our  rapid  material  growth,  tliis  intellectual  phase  lias 
been  in  great  measure  due  to  the  exhaustion  of  argument, 
and  the  necessity  for  better  data.  Not  so  much  with  a 
conscious  recognition  of  the  end  to  be  subserved,  as  from 
an  unconscious  subordination  to  that  rhythm  traceable  in 
social  changes  as  in  other  things,  an  era  of  theorizing 
without  observing,  has  been  followed  by  an  era  of  observing 
without  theorizing.  During  this  long-continued  devotion 
to  concrete  science,  an  immense  quantity  of  raw  material 
for  abstract  science  has  been  accumulated ;  and  now  there 
is  obviously  commencing  a  period  in  which  this  accumulated 
raw  material  will  be  organized  into  consistent  tlieory.  On 
all  sides — equally  in  the  inorganic  sciences,  in  the  science 
of  life,  and  in  the  science  of  society — we  may  note  the 
tendency  to  pass  from  the  superficial  and  empirical  to  the 
more  profound  and  rational. 

In  Psychology  this  change  is  conspicuous.  The  facts 
brought  to  light  by  anatomists  and  physiologists  during 
the  last  fifty  years,  are  at  length  being  used  towards  the 
interpretation  of  this  highest  class  of  biological  phenomena; 
and  already  there  is  promise  of  a  great  advance.  The 
work  of  Mr.  Alexander  Bain,  of  which  the  second  volume 
has  been  recently  issued,  may  be  regarded  as  especially 
characteristic  of  the  transition.  It  gives  us,  in  orderly 
arrangement,  the  great  mass  of  evidence  supplied  by 
modern  science  towards  the  building-up  of  a  coherent 
i^ystem  of  mental  philosophy.  It  is  not  in  itself  a  system 
of  mental  philosophy,  propei'ly  so  called ;  but  a  classified 
collection  of  materials  for  such  a  system,  presented  with 
that  method  and  insight  which  scientific  discipline  generates, 
and  accompanied  with  occasional  passages  of  an  analytical 
character.  It  is  indeed  that  which  it  in  the  main  professes 
to  be — a  natural  history  of  the  mind.  Were  we  to  say 
that  the  researches  of  the  naturalist  who  collects  and 
dissects  and  describes  species,  bear  the  same  relation  to 
the  researches  of  the  comparative  jinatoraist  tracing   out 


BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE   WILL.  243 

the  laws  of  organization,  which  Mr.  Bain's  labours  bear  to 
the  labours  of  the  abstract  psychologist,  we  should  be  going 
somewhat  too  far;  for  Mr.  Bain's  work  is  not  wholly 
descriptive.  Still,  however,  such  an  analogy  conveys  the 
best  general  conception  of  what  he  has  done;  and  serves 
most  clearly  to  indicate  its  needfulness.  For  as,  before 
there  can  be  made  anything  like  true  generalizations 
respecting  the  classification  of  organisms  and  the  laws  of 
organization,  there  must  be  an  extensive  accumulation  of 
the  facts  presented  in  numerous  organic  bodies ;  so,  without 
a  tolerably-complete  delineation  of  mental  phenomena 
of  all  orders,  there  can  scarcely  arise  any  adequate  theory 
of  mind.  Until  recently,  mental  science  has  been  pursued 
much  as  physical  science  was  pursued  by  the  ancients  j 
not  by  drawing  conclusions  from  observations  and 
experiments,  but  by  drawing  them  from  arbitrary  a  priori 
assumptions.  This  course,  long  since  abandoned  in  the 
one  case  with  immense  advantage,  is  gradually  being 
abandoned  in  the  other ;  and  the  treatment  of  Psychology 
as  a  division  of  natural  history,  shows  that  the  abandonment 
will  soon  be  complete. 

Estimated  as  a  means  to  higher  results,  Mr.  Bain's  work 
is  of  great  value.  Of  its  kind  it  is  the  most  scientific  in 
conception,  the  most  catholic  in  spirit,  and  the  most 
complete  in  execution.  Besides  delineating  the  various 
classes  of  mental  phenomena  as  seen  under  that  stronger 
light  thrown  on  them  by  modern  science,  it  includes  in  the 
picture  much  which  previous  writers  had  omitted — partly 
from  prejudice,  partly  from  ignorance.  We  refer  more 
especially  to  the  participation  of  bodily  organs  in  mental 
changes ;  and  the  addition  to  the  primary  mental  changes, 
of  those  many  secondary  ones  which  the  actions  of  the 
bodily  organs  generate.  Mr.  Bain  has,  we  believe,  been 
the  first  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  this  element  in 
our  states  of  consciousness;  and  it  is  one  of  his  merits  that 
he  shows  how  constant  and  largo  an  element  it  is.     Further, 


2  i  !•  BAIN   ON  THE   EMOTIONS   AND   THE   WILL. 

the  relations  of  voluntary  and  involuntary  movements  are 
elucidated  in  a  way  that  was  not  possible  to  writers 
unacquainted  with  the  modern  doctrine  of  reflex  action. 
And  beyond  this^  some  of  the  analytical  passages  that  here 
and  there  occur,  contain  important  ideas. 

Valuable,  however,  as  is  Mr.  Bain's  work,  we  regard  it  as 
essentially  transitional.  It  presents  in  a  digested  form  the 
results  of  a  period  of  observation;  adds  to  these  results 
many  well-delineated  facts  collected  by  himself;  arranges 
new  and  old  materials  withthat  more  scientific  method  which 
the  discipline  of  our  times  has  fostered ;  and  so  prepares  the 
way  for  better  generalizations.  But  almost  of  necessity  its 
classifications  and  conclusions  are  provisional.  In  the 
growth  of  each  science,  not  only  is  correct  observation 
needful  for  the  formation  of  true  theory ;  but  true  theory 
is  needful  as  a  preliminary  to  correct  observation.  Of 
course  we  do  not  intend  this  assertion  to  be  taken  literally ; 
but  as  a  strong  expression  of  the  fact  that  the  two  must 
advance  hand  in  hand.  The  first  crude  theory  or  rough 
classification,  based  on  very  slight  knowledge  of  the  phe- 
nomena, is  requisite  as  a  means  of  reducing  the  phenomena 
to  some  kind  of  order ;  and  as  supplying  a  conception  with 
which  fresh  phenomena  may  be  compared,  and  their  agree- 
ment or  disagreement  noted.  Incongruities  being  by  and 
by  made  manifest  by  wider  examination  of  cases,  there 
comes  such  modification  of  the  theory  as  brings  it  into  a 
nearer  correspondence  with  the  evidence.  This  reacts  to 
the  further  advance  of  observation.  More  extensive  and 
complete  observation  brings  additional  corrections  of  theory  ; 
and  so  on  till  the  truth  is  reached.  In  mental  science,  the 
systematic  collection  of  facts  having  but  recently  com- 
menced, it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  results  can  be  at 
once  rightly  formulated.  All  that  may  be  looked  for  are 
approximate  generalizations  which  will  presently  serve  for 
the  better  directing  of  inquiry.  Hence,  even  were  it  not 
now  possible  to  say  in  what  way  it  does  so,  we  might  be 


BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL.  245 

tolerably  certain  tliat  Mr.  Bain's  work  bears  tlie  stamp  of 
the  inchoate  state  of  Psychology. 

We  think,  however,  that  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  find 
in  what  respects  its  organization  is  provisional ;  and  at 
the  same  time  to  show  what  must  be  the  nature  of  a 
more  complete  organization.  We  propose  here  to  attempt 
this :  illustrating  our  positions  from  his  recently-issued 
second  volume. 

Is  it  possible  to  make  a  true  classification  without  the 
aid  of  analysis  ?  or  must  there  not  be  an  analytical  basis  to 
every  true  classification  ?  Can  the  real  relations  of  things 
be  determined  by  the  obvious  characteristics  of  the  things  ? 
or  does  it  not  commonly  happen  that  certain  hidden  charac- 
teristics, on  which  the  obvious  ones  depend,  are  the  truly 
significant  ones?  This  is  the  preliminary  question  which  a 
glance  at  Mr.  Bain's  scheme  of  the  emotions  suggests. 

Though  not  avowedly,  yet  by  implication,  Mr.  Bain 
assumes  that  a  right  conception  of  the  nature,  the  order, 
and  the  relations  of  the  emotions,  may  be  arrived  at  by 
contemplating  their  conspicuous  objective  and  subjective 
characters,  as  displayed  in  the  adult.  After  pointing  out 
that  we  lack  those  means  of  classification  which  serve  in 
the  case  of  the  sensations,  he  says — 

"In  these  circumstances  we  must  turn  our  attention  to  tlie  manner  of 
diffusion  of  the  different  passions  and  emotions,  in  order  to  obtain  a  basis  of 
classification  analogous  to  tlie  arrangement  of  the  sensations.  If  what  we 
have  already  advanced  on  that  subject  be  at  all  well  founded,  this  is  the 
genuine  turning  point  of  the  method  to  be  chosen,  for  the  same  mode  of 
diffusion  will  always  be  accompanied  by  the  same  mental  experience,  and 
each  of  the  two  aspects  would  identify,  and  would  be  evidence  of,  the  other. 
There  is,  therefore,  nothing  so  thoroughly  characteristic  of  any  state  of 
feeling  as  the  nature  of  the  diffusive  wave  that  embodies  it,  or  the  various 
organs  specially  roused  into  action  by  it,  together  with  the  manner  of  the 
action.  The  only  drawback  is  our  comparative  ignorance,  and  our  inability 
to  discern  the  precise  character  of  the  diffusive  currents  in  every  case ;  a 
radical  imperfection  in  the  science  of  mind  as  constituted  at  present. 

"  Our  own  consciousness,  formerly  reckoned  the  only  medium  of  know- 


246  BAIN   ON   THE   EMOTIONS    AND   THE   WILL. 

ledge  to  the  mental  philosopher,  must  therefore  be  still  referred  to  as  a 
principal  means  of  discriminating  the  varieties  of  human  feeling.  We  have 
the  power  of  noting  agreement  and  difference  among  our  conscious  states, 
and  on  this  we  can  raise  a  structure  of  classification.  We  recognise  such 
generalities  as  pleasure,  pain,  love,  anger,  through  the  property  of  mental  or 
intellectual  discrimination  that  accompanies  in  our  mind  the  fact  of 
emotion.  A  certain  degree  of  precision  is  attainable  by  this  mode  of  mental 
comparison  and  analysis ;  the  farther  we  can  carry  such  precision  the 
better  ;  but  that  is  no  reason  why  it  should  stand  alone  to  the  neglect  of  the 
corporeal  embodiments  through  which  one  mind  reveals  itself  to  others. 
The  companionship  of  inward  feeling  with  bodily  manifestation  is  a  fact  of 
the  human  constitution,  and  deserves  to  be  studied  as  such ;  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  place  more  appropriate  than  a  treatise  on  the  mind  for 
setting  forth  the  conjunctions  and  sequences  traceable  in  this  department  of 
nature.  I  shall  make  no  scruple  in  conjoining  with  the  description  of  the 
mental  phenomena  the  physical  appearances,  in  so  far  as  I  am  able  to 
ascertain  them. 

«'  There  is  still  one  other  quarter  to  be  referred  to  in  settling  a  complete 
arrangement  of  the  emotions,  namely,  the  varieties  of  human  conduct,  and 
the  machinery  created  in  subservience  to  our  common  susceptibilities.  For 
example,  the  vast  superstructure  of  fine  art  has  its  foundations  in  human 
feeling,  and  in  rendering  an  account  of  this  we  are  led  to  recognise  the 
interesting  group  of  artistic  or  aesthetic  emotions.  The  same  outward 
reference  to  conduct  and  creations  brings  to  light  the  so-called  moral 
sense  in  man,  whose  foundations  in  the  mental  system  have  accordingly 
to  be  examined. 

"  Combining  together  these  various  indications,  or  sources  of  discrimina- 
tion,— outward  objects,  diiJusive  mode  or  expression,  inward  consciousness, 
resulting  conduct  and  institutions, — I  adopt  the  following  arrangement  of  the 
families  or  natural  orders  of  emotion." 

Here,  then,  are  confessedly  adopted,  as  bases  of  classi- 
fication, "the  most  manifest  characters  of  the  emotions ; 
as  discerned  subjectively,  and  objectively.  The  mode  of 
diffusion  of  an  emotion  is  one  of  its  outside  aspects ;  the 
institutions  it  generates  form  another  of  its  outside  aspects; 
and  though  the  peculiarities  of  the  emotion  as  a  state  of 
consciousness,  seem  to  express  its  intrinsic  and  ultimate 
nature,  yet  such  peculiarities  as  are  perceptible  by  simple 
introspection,  must  also  be  classed  as  superficial  peculiari- 
ties. It  is  a  familiar  fact  that  various  intellectual  states  of 
consciousness  turn  out,  when  analyzed,  to  have  natures 
\\idcly  unlike  those  which  at  first  appear;  and  we  believe 


BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS   AND   THE    WILL.  247 

the  like  will  prove  true  of  emotional  states  of  consciousness. 
Just  as  our  concept  of  space,  wliicli  is  apt  to  be  thought 
a  simple,  undecomposable  concept,  is  yet  resolvable  into 
experiences  quite  different  from  that  state  of  consciou.snes3 
which  we  call  space  ;  so,  probably,  the  sentiment  of  affection 
or  reverence  is  compounded  of  elements  that  are  severally 
distinct  from  the  whole  which  they  make  up.  And  much 
as  a  classification  of  our  ideas  which  dealt  with  the  idea  of 
space  as  though  it  were  ultimate,  would  be  a  classification 
of  ideas  by  their  exteinials ;  so,  a  classification  of  our 
emotions,  which,  regarding  them  as  simple,  describes  their 
aspects  in  ordinary  consciousness,  is  a  classification  of 
emotions  by  their  externals. 

Thus,  then,  Mr.  Bain's  grouping  is  throughout  determined 
by  the  most  manifest  attributes — those  objectively  displayed 
in  the  natural  language  of  the  emotions,  and  in  the  social 
phenomena  that  result  from  them,  and  those  subjectively 
displayed  in  the  aspects  the  emotions  assume  in  an  analyti- 
cal consciousness.  And  the  question  is — Can  they  bo 
correctly  grouped  after  this  method  ? 

We  think  not;  and  had  Mr.  Bain  carried  farther  an  idea 
with  which  he  has  set  out,  he  would  probably  have  seen  that 
they  cannot.  As  already  said,  he  avowedly  adopts  ''tho 
natural-history-method '."  not  only  referring  to  it  in  his  pre- 
face, but  in  his  first  chapter  giving  examples  of  botanical 
and  zoological  classifications,  as  illustrating  the  mode  in 
which  he  proposes  to  deal  with  the  emotions.  This  wo 
conceive  to  be  a  philosophical  conception ;  and  we  have 
only  to  regret  that  Mr.  Bain  has  overlooked  some  of  its 
most  important  implications.  For  in  what  has  essentially 
consisted  the  progress  of  natural-history- classification?  In 
the  abandonment  of  grouping  by  external,  conspicuous 
characters ;  and  in  the  making  of  certain  internal,  but  all- 
essential  characters,  the  bases "of  groups.  Whales  are  not 
now  ranged  along  with  fish,  because  in  their  general  forma 
and  habits  of  life  they  resemble  fish ;  but  they  are  ranged 
17 


218  BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL. 

with  mammals,  because  the  type  of  their  organization,  aa 
ascertained  by  dissection,  corresponds  with  that  of  mammals. 
No  longer  considered  as  sea-weeds  in  virtue  of  their  foruis 
and  modes  of  growth,  Polyzoa  are  now  shown,  by  examina- 
tion of  their  economy,  to  belong  to  the  animal  kingdom. 
It  is  found,  then,  that  the  discovery  of  real  relationships 
involves  analysis.  It  has  turned  out  that  the  earlier  classi- 
fications, guided  by  general  resemblances,  though  containing 
much  truth^  and  though  very  useful  provisionally,  were  yet 
in  many  cases  radically  wrong ;  and  that  the  true  affinities 
of  organisms,  and  the  true  homologies  of  their  parts,  are 
to  be  made  out  only  by  examining  their  hidden  structures. 
Another  fact  of  great  significance  in  the  history  of  classifi- 
cation is  also  to  be  noted.  Very  frequently  the  kinship  of 
an  organism  cannot  be  made  out  even  by  exhaustive 
analysis,  if  that  analysis  is  confined  to  the  adult  structure. 
In  many  cases  it  is  needful  to  examine  the  structure  in  its 
earlier  stages  ;  and  even  in  its  embryonic  stage.  So  difii- 
cult  was  it,  for  instance,  to  determine  the  true  position  of 
the  Oirrhipedia  among  animals,  by  examining  mature 
individuals  only,  that  Cuvier  erroneously  classed  them  with 
Mollusca,  even  after  dissecting  them ;  and  not  until  their 
early  forms  were  discovered,  were  they  clearly  proved  to 
belong  to  the  Crustacea.  So  important,  indeed,  is  the  study 
of  development  as  a  means  to  classification,  that  the  first 
zoologists  now  hold  it  to  be  the  only  absolute  criterion. 

Here,  then,  in  the  advance  of  natural-history-classification, 
are  two  fundamental  facts,  which  should  be  borne  in  mind 
when  classifying  the  emotions.  If,  as  Mr.  Bain  rightly 
assumes,  the  emotions  are  to  be  grouped  after  the  natural- 
history-method  j  then  it  should  be  the  natural-history- 
method  in  its  complete  fonn,  and  not  in  its  rude  form. 
Mr.  Bain  will  doubtless  agree  in  the  belief,  that  a  correct 
account  of  the  emotions  in  their  natures  and  relations,  must 
correspond  with  a  correct  account  of  the  nei'vous  system — • 
mufct  form  another  side  of  the  same  ultimate  facts.     Struc- 


BAIN    ON    TUE    EMOTIONS   AND   THE    WILL.  249 

ture  and  function  must  necessarily  harmonize.  Structures 
whicli  have  -with  each  other  certain  ultimate  connexions^ 
must  have  functions  which  have  answering  connexions. 
Structures  which  have  arisen  in  certain  ways,  must  have 
functions  which  have  arisen  in  parallel  ways.  And  hence  if 
analysis  and  development  are  needful  for  the  right  inter- 
pretation of  structures,  they  must  be  needful  for  the  right 
interpretation  of  functions.  Just  as  a  scientific  description 
of  the  digestive  organs  must  include  not  only  their  obvious 
forms  and  connexions,  but  their  microscopic  characters, 
and  also  the  ways  in.  which  they  severally  result  by 
differentiation  from  the  primitive  mucous  membrane;  so 
must  a  scientific  account  of  the  nervous  system  include  its 
general  arrangements,  its  minute  structure,  and  its  mode 
of  evolution ;  and  so  must  a  scientific  account  of  nervous 
actions  include  the  answering  three  elements.  Alike  in 
classing  separate  organisms,  and  in  classing  the  parts  of 
the  same  organism,  the  complete  natural-history-method 
involves  ultimate  analysis,  aided  by  development;  and  Mr. 
Bain,  in  not  basing  his  classification  of  the  emotions  on 
characters  reached  through  these  aids,  has  fallen  short  of 
the  conception  with  which  he  set  out. 

"  But,"  it  will  perhaps  be  asked,  '^how  are  the  emotions 
to  be  analyzed,  and  their  modes  of  evolution  to  be  ascer- 
tained ?  Different  animals,  and  different  organs  of  the 
same  animal,  may  readily  be  compared  in  their  internal 
structures  and  microscopic  structures,  as  also  in  their 
developments ;  but  functions,  and  especially  such  functions 
as  the  emotions,  do  not  admit  of  like  comparisons." 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  application  of  these  methods 
is  here  by  no  means  so  easy.  Though  we  can  note  differ- 
ences and  similarities  between  the  internal  formations  of 
two  animals  ;  it  is  difficult  to  contrast  the  mental  states  of 
two  animals.  Though  the  true  morphological  relations  of 
organs  may  be  made  out  by  observation  of  embryos ;  y(!t, 
where  such   organs  are   inactive  before    birth,   wo  canuut 


250  BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND   THE    WILL. 

completely  trace  tlie  history  of  their  actions.  Obviously, 
too,  pursuance  of  inquiries  of  the  kind  indicated,  raises 
questions  which  science  is  not  yet  prepared  to  answer;  as, 
for  instance — Whether  all  nervous  functions,  in  common 
with  all  other  functions,  arise  by  gradual  differentiations, 
as  their  organs  do  ?  Whether  the  emotions  are,  therefore, 
to  be  regarded  as  divergent  modes  of  action  that  have 
become  unlike  by  successive  modifications  ?  Whether,  as 
two  organs  which  originally  budded  out  of  the  same  mem- 
brane have  not  only  become  different  as  they  developed, 
but  have  also  severally  become  compound  internally,  though 
externally  simple ;  so  two  emotions,  simple  and  near  akin 
in  their  roots,  may  not  only  have  grown  unlike,  but  may 
also  have  grown  involved  in  their  natures,  though  seeming 
homogeneous  to  consciousness  ?  And  here,  indeed,  in  the 
inability  of  existing  science  to  answer  these  questions  which 
underlie  a  true  psychological  classification,  we  see  how 
purely  provisional  any  present  classification  is  likely  to  be. 

Nevertheless,  even  now,  classification  may  be  aided  by 
development  and  ultimate  analysis  to  a  considerable  extent ; 
and  the  defect  in  Mr.  Bain's  work  is,  that  he  has  not  syste- 
matically availed  himself  of  them  as  far  as  possible.  Thus 
we  may,  in  the  first  place,  study  the  evolution  of  the  emo- 
tions up  through  the  various  grades  of  the  animal  kingdom : 
observing^  which  of  them  are  earliest  and  exist  with  the 
lowest  organization  and  intelligence ;  in  what  order  the 
others  accompany  higher  endowments  ;  and  how  they  are 
severally  related  to  the  conditions  of  life.  In  the  second 
place,  we  may  note  the  emotional  differences  between 
the  lower  and  the  higher  human  races — may  regard  as 
earlier  and  simpler  those  feelings  which  are  common  to 
both,  and  as  later  and  more  compound  those  which  are 
characteristic  of  the  most  civilized.  In  the  third  place, 
we  may  observe  the  order  in  which  the  emotions  unfold 
during  the  progress  from  infancy  to  maturity.  And  lastly, 
comparing  these  three  kinds  of   emotional  development, 


BAIN    ON   THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL.  251 

displayed  in  the  ascending  grades  of  the  animal  kingdom, 
in  the  advance  of  the  civilized  races^  and  in  individual 
history,  we  may  see  in  what  respects  they  harmonize,  and 
what  are  the  implied  general  truths. 

Having  gathered  together  and  generalized  these  several 
classes  of  facts,  analysis  of  the  emotions  would  be  made 
easier.  Setting  out  with  the  assumption  that  every  new  form 
of  emotion  making  its  appearance  in  the  individual  or  the 
race,  is  a  modification  of  some  pre-existing  emotion,  or  a 
compound  of  several  pre-existing  emotions,  we  should 
be  greatly  aided  by  knowing  what  always  are  the  pre- 
existing emotions.  When,  for  example,  we  find  that  very 
few  of  the  lower  animals  show  any  love  of  accumulation, 
and  that  this  feeling  is  absent  in  infancy  —  when  we  see 
that  an  infant  in  arms  exhibits  anger,  fear,  wonder,  while 
yet  it  manifests  no  desire  of  permanent  possession,  and  that 
a  brute  which  has  no  acquisitiveness  can  nevertheless  feel 
attachment,  jealousy,  love  of  approbation ;  we  may  suspect 
that  the  feeling  which  property  satisfies  is  compounded 
out  of  simpler  and  deeper  feelings.  We  may  conclude 
that  as,  when  a  dog  hides  a  bone,  there  must  exist  in 
him  a  prospective  gratification  of  hunger ;  so  there  must 
similarly  at  first,  in  all  cases  where  anything  is  secured 
or  taken  possession  of,  exist  an  ideal  excitement  of  the 
feeling  which  that  thing  will  gratify.  We  may  further 
conclude  that  when  the  intelligence  is  such  that  a  variety 
of  objects  come  to  be  utilized  for  different  purposes — when, 
as  among  savages,  divers  wants  are  satisfied  through  the 
articles  appropriated  for  weapons,  shelter,  clothing,  orna- 
ment ;  the  act  of  appropriating  comes  to  be  one  constantly- 
involving  agreeable  associations,  and  one  which  is  there- 
fore pleasurable,  irrespective  of  the  end  subserved.  And 
when,  as  in  civilized  life,  the  property  acquired  is  of  a  kind 
not  conducing  to  one  order  of  gratification  in  particular, 
but  is  capable  of  administering  to  all  gratifications,  the 
pleasure  of  acquiring  property  grows  more  distinct  from 


252  BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND   THE    WILL. 

each  of  the  various  pleasures  subserved — is  more  completely 
differentiated  into  a  separate  emotion. 

This  illustration^  roughly  as  it  is  sketched,  will  show  what 
we  mean  by  the  use  of  comparative  psychology  in  aid  of 
classification.  Ascertaining  by  induction  the  actual  order 
of  evolution  of  the  emotions,  we  are  led  to  suspect  thia 
to  be  their  order  of  successive  dependence ;  and  are  so 
led  to  recognize  their  order  of  ascending  complexity ;  and 
by  consequence  their  true  groupings. 

Thus,  in  the  very  process  of  arranging  the  emotions  into 
grades,  beginning  with  those  involved  in  the  lowest  forms 
of  conscious  activity  and  ending  with  those  peculiar  to  the 
adult  civilized  man,  the  way  is  opened  for  that  ultimate 
analysis  which  alone  can  lead  us  to  the  true  science  of  the 
matter.  For  when  we  find  both  that  there  exist  in  a 
man  feelings  which  do  not  exist  in  a  child,  and  that  the 
European  is  characterized  by  some  sentiments  which  are 
wholly  or  in  great  part  absent  from  the  savage — when  we 
see  that,  besides  the  new  emotions  which  arise  spontaneously 
as  the  individual  becomes  completely  organized,  there  are 
new  emotions  making  their  appearance  in  the  more  advanced 
divisions  of  our  race;  we  are  led  to  ask — How  are  neAV 
emotions  generated  ?  The  lowest  savages  have  not  even 
the  ideas  of  justice  or  mercy  :  they  have  neither  words  for 
them  nor  can  they  be  made  to  conceive  them ;  and  the 
manifestation  of  them  by  Europeans  they  ascribe  to  fear 
or  cunning.  There  are  esthetic  emotions  common  among 
ourselves,  which  are  scarcely  in  any  degree  experienced  by 
some  inferior  races;  as,  for  instance,  those  produced  by 
luusic.  To  which  instances  may  be  added  the  less  marked 
but  more  numerous  contrasts  that  exist  between  civilized 
races  in  the  degrees  of  their  several  emotions.  And  if  it 
is  manifest,  both  that  all  the  emotions  are  capable  of  being 
permanently  modified  in  the  course  of  successive  generations, 
and  that  what  must  be  classed  as  new  emotions  may  be 
brought  into  existence;  then  it  follows  that  nothing  likna 


BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND   THE    WILL.  253 

true  concoption  of  tlie  emotions  is  to  be  obtained,  until  we 
understand  how  they  are  evolved. 

Comparative  Psychology,  while  it  raises  this  inquiry, 
prepares  the  way  for  answering  it.  When  observing  the 
differences  between  races,  we  can  scarcely  fail  to  observe 
also  how  these  differences  correspond  with  differences 
between  their  conditions  of  existence,  and  consequent 
activities.  Among  the  lowest  races  of  men,  love  of 
property  stimulates  to  the  obtainment  only  of  such  things 
as  satisfy  immediate  desires,  or  desires  of  the  immediate 
future.  Improvidence  is  the  rule  :  there  is  little  effort  to 
meet  remote  contingencies.  But  the  growth  of  established 
societies  having  gradually  given  security  of  possession, 
there  has  been  an  increasing  tendency  to  provide  for 
coming  years :  there  has  been  a  constant  exercise  of  the 
feeling  which  is  satisfied  by  a  provision  for  the  future;  and 
there  has  been  a  growth  of  this  feeling  so  great  that  it  now 
prompts  accumulation  to  an  extent  beyond  what  is  needful. 
Note,  again,  that  under  the  discipline  of  social  life — under 
a  comparative  abstinence  from  aggressive  actions,  and  a  per- 
formance of  those  naturally-serviceable  actions  implied  by  the 
division  of  labour — there  has  been  a  development  of  those 
gentle  emotions  of  which  inferior  races  exhibit  but  the  rudi- 
ments. Savages  delight  in  giving  pain  rather  than  pleasure 
— are  almost  devoid  of  sympathy ;  while  among  ourselves, 
])liilanthropy  organizes  itself  in  laws,  establishes  numerous 
institutions,  and  dictates  countless  private  benefactions. 

From  which  and  other  like  facts,  does  it  not  seem  an 
unavoidable  inference,  that  new  emotions  are  developed  by 
new  experiences — new  habits  of  life  ?  All  are  familiar  with 
the  truth  that,  in  the  individual,  each  feeling  may  bo 
strengthened  by  performing  those  actions  which  it  prompts; 
and  to  say  that  the  feeling  is  strengthened,  is  to  say  that 
it  is  in  part  made  by  these  actions.  We  know,  further, 
that  not  unfroquently,  individuals,  by  persistence  in  special 
courses  of  conduct,  acquire  special  likings  for  such  coursesi 


254  BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    TUE    WILL. 

disagreeable  as  tliese  may  be  to  otliers ;  and  tbese  whims, 
or  morbid  tastes,  imply  incipient  emotions  corresponding 
to  tliese  special  activities.  We  know  that  emotional 
characteristics,  in  common  with  all  others,  are  hereditary; 
and  the  differences  between  civilized  nations  descended 
from  the  same  stock,  show  us  the  cumulative  results  of 
small  modifications  hereditarily  transmitted.  And  when 
we  see  that  between  savage  and  civilized  races  which 
diverged  from  one  another  in  the  remote  past,  and  have 
for  a  hundred  generations  followed  modes  of  life  becoming 
ever  more  unlike,  there  exist  still  greater  emotional 
contrasts;  may  we  not  infer  that  the  more  or  less 
distinct  emotions  which  characterize  civilized  races,  are  the 
organized  results  of  certain  daily-repeated  combinations  of 
mental  states  which  social  life  involves  ?  Must  we  not  say 
that  habits  not  only  modify  emotions  in  the  individual,  and 
not  only  beget  tendencies  to  like  habits  and  accompanying 
emotions  in  descendants,  but  that  when  the  conditions  of 
the  race  make  the  habits  persistent,  this  progressive  modi- 
fication may  go  on  to  the  extent  of  producing  emotions  so 
far  distinct  as  to  seem  new  ?  And  if  so,  we  may  suspect 
that  such  new  emotions,  and  by  implication  all  emotions 
analytically  considered,  consist  of  aggregated  and  consoli- 
dated groups  of  those  simpler  feelings  which  habitually 
occur  together  in  experience.  When,  in  the  circumstances 
of  any  race,  some  one  kind  of  action  or  set  of  actions,  sen- 
sation or  setof  sensations,  is  usually  followed,  or  accompanied, 
by  various  other  sets  of  actions  or  sensations,  and  so  entails 
a  large  mass  of  pleasurable  or  painful  states  of  conscious- 
ness; these,  by  frequent  repetition,  become  so  connected 
together  that  the  initial  action  or  sensation  brings  the  ideas 
of  all  the  rest  crowding  into  consciousness :  producing,  in 
some  degree,  the  pleasures  or  pains  that  have  before  been 
felt  in  reality.  And  when  this  relation,  besides  being  fre- 
quently repeated  in  the  individual,  occurs  in  successive 
generations,  all  the  many  nervous  actions  involved  tend  to 


BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS   AND    THE    WILL.  255 

grow  organically  connected.  They  become  incipiently 
reflex;  and,  on  the  occurrence  of  the  appropriate  stimulus, 
the  whole  nervous  apparatus  which  in  past  generations  was 
brought  into  activity  by  this  stimulus,  becomes  nascently 
excited.  Even  while  yet  there  have  been  no  individual 
experiences,  a  vague  feeling  of  pleasure  or  pain  is  pro- 
duced; constituting  what  we  may  call  the  body  of  the 
emotion.  And  when  the  experiences  of  past  generations 
come  to  be  repeated  in  the  individual,  the  emotion  gains 
both  strength  and  definiteness ;  and  is  accompanied  by  tho 
appropriate  specific  ideas. 

This  view  of  the  matter,  which  we  believe  the  estab- 
lished truths  of  Physiology  and  Psychology  unite  in  indi- 
cating, and  which  is  the  view  that  generalizes  the  phenomena 
of  habit,  of  national  characteristics,  of  civilization  in  its 
moral  aspects,  at  the  same  time  that  it  gives  us  a  conception 
of  emotion  in  its  origin  and  ultimate  nature,  may  be 
illustrated  from  the  mental  modifications  undergone  by 
animals.  On  newly-discovered  lands  not  inhabited  by  man, 
birds  are  so  devoid  of  fear  as  to  allow  themselves  to  bo 
knocked  over  with  sticks ;  but  in  the  course  of  generations, 
they  acquire  such  a  dread  of  man  as  to  fly  on  his  approach ; 
and  this  dread  is  manifested  by  young  as  well  as  by  old. 
Now  unless  this  change  be  ascribed  to  the  killing-off  of 
the  less  fearful,  and  the  preservation  and  multiplication 
of  the  more  fearful,  which,  considering  the  coinparatively 
small  number  killed  by  man,  is  an  inadequate  cause;  it 
must  be  ascribed  to  accumulated  experiences ;  and  each 
experience  must  be  held  to  have  a  share  in  producing  it. 
We  must  conclude  that  in  each  bird  which  escapes  with 
injuries  inflicted  by  man,  or  is  alarmed  by  the  outcries  of 
other  members  of  the  flock  (gregarious  creatures  of  any 
intelligence  being  necessarily  more  or  less  sympathetic), 
there  is  established  an  association  of  ideas  between  the 
human  aspect  and  the  pains,  direct  and  indirect,  suffered 
from  human  agency.     And  we  must  further  conclude  that 


250  BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL. 

tlie  stTite  of  consciousness  wliicli  impels  the  bird  to  take 
fliglitj  is  at  first  nothing  more  than  an  ideal  reproduction 
of  those  painful  impressions  which  before  followed  man's 
approach;  that  such  ideal  reproduction  becomes  more  vivid 
and  more  massive  as  the  painful  experiences,  direct  or 
sympathetic,  increase;  and  that  thus  the  emotion  in  its 
incipient  state,  is  nothing  else  than  an  aggregation  of  the 
revived  pains  before  experienced.  As,  in  the  course  of 
genera.tions,  the  young  birds  of  this  race  bogir?  to  display 
a  fear  of  man  before  yet  they  have  been  injured  by  him, 
it  is  an  unavoidable  inference  that  the  nervous  system  of 
the  race  has  been  organically  modified  by  these  experiences  : 
we  have  no  choice  but  to  conclude  that  when  a  young  bird 
is  thus  led  to  fly,  it  is  because  the  impression  produced  on 
its  senses  by  the  approaching  man,  entails,  through  an 
incipiently-reflex  action,  a  partial  excitement  of  all  those 
nerves  which  in  its  ancestors  had  been  excited  under  the  like 
conditions ;  that  this  partial  excitement  has  its  accompanying 
painful  consciousness ;  and  that  the  vague  painful  conscious- 
ness thus  arising,  constitutes  emotion  proper — emotion 
undecom'posahle  into  specijic  experiences,  and  therefore 
seemingly  homogeneous. 

If  such  be  the  explanation  of  the  fact  in  this  case,  then  it 
is  in  all  cases.  If  emotion  is  so  generated  here,  then  it  is  so 
generated  throughout.  We  must  perforce  conclude  that  tho 
emotional  modifications  displayed  by  diffei'ent  nations,  and 
those  higher  emotions  by  which  civilized  are  distinguished 
froiu  Ravage,  are  to  be  accounted  for  on  the  same  principle. 
And  concluding  this,  we  are  led  strongly  to  suspect  that 
the  emotions  in  general  have  severally  thus  originated. 

Perhaps  we  have  now  made  sufficiently  clear  what  we 
mean  by  the  study  of  the  emotions  through  analysis  and 
development.  We  have  aimed  to  justify  the  positions  that, 
without  analysis  aided  by  development,  there  cannot  be  a 
true  natural  history  of  the  emotions;  and  that  a  natural 
history  of  the  emotions  based  on  external  characters  can  be 


BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    ^^ND    TlIP:    WILL.  257 

but  provisional.  We  tliink  that  Mr.  Bain,  in  confinin;:^  liim- 
self  to  an  account  of  tlio  emotions  as  they  exist  in  the  adult 
civilized  man,  has  neglected  those  classes  of  facts  out  of 
which,  the  science  of  the  matter  must  chiefly  be  built.  It  is 
true  tliat  he  has  treated  of  habits  as  modifying  emotions  in 
the  individual ;  but  he  has  not  recognized  the  fact  that  where 
conditions  render  habits  persistent  iu  successive  generations, 
such  modifications  are  cumulative  :  he  has  not  hinted  that 
the  modifications  produced  by  habit  are  emotions  in  the 
making.  It  is  true,  also,  that  he  occasionally  refers  to  the 
characteristics  of  children ;  but  he  does  not  systematically 
trace  the  changes  through  which  childhood  passes  into  man- 
hood, as  throwing  light  on  the  order  and  genesis  of  the 
emotions.  It  is  further  true  that  he  here  and  there  refers 
to  national  traits  in  illustration  of  his  subject ;  but  these 
stand  as  isolated  facts,  having  no  general  significance : 
there  is  no  hint  of  any  relation  between  them  and  the 
national  circumstances ;  while  all  those  many  moral  contrasts 
between  lower  and  higher  races  which  throw  great  light 
on  classification,  are  passed  over.  And  once  more,  it  is  true 
that  many  passages  of  his  vv^ork,  and  sometimes,  indeed, 
whole  sections  of  it,  are  analytical;  but  his  analyses  are 
incidental — they  do  not  underlie  his  entire  scheme,  but  are 
here  and  there  added  to  it.  In  brief,  he  has  written  a  Des- 
criptive Psychology,  which  does  not  appeal  to  Comparative 
Psychology  and  Analytical  Psychology  for  its  leading  ideas. 
And  in  doing  this,  he  has  omitted  much  that  should  be 
included  in  a  natural  history  of  the  mind ;  while  to  that  part 
of  the  subject  with  which  he  has  dealt,  he  has  given  a 
necessarily-imperfect  organization. 

Even  leaving  out  of  view  the  absence  of  those  methods 
and  criteria  on  which  we  have  been  insisting,  it  appears  to 
us  that  meritorious  as  is  Mr.  Baiu\s  book  in  its  details,  it  is 
defective  in  some  of  its  leading  ideas.  The  first  paragraphs 
of  his  first  chapter,  quite  startled  us  by  the  strangeness  of 


258  BAIN   ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND   THE    WILL. 

their  definitions — a  strangeness  ■which  can  scarcely  be 
ascribed  to  laxity  of  expression.     The  paragraphs  run  thus: — 

"  Mind  is  comprised  under  three  heads, — Emotion,  Volition,  and  Intellect. 

"  Emotion  is  the  name  here  used  to  comprehend  all  that  is  understood  by 
feehngs,  states  of  feeling,  pleasures,  pains,  passions,  sentiments,  affections. 
Consciousness,  and  conscious  states  also  for  the  most  part  denote  modes  of 
emotion,  although  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  Intellectual  consciousness. 

"  Volition,  on  the  other  hand,  indicates  the  great  fact  that  our  Pleasures 
and  Pains,  which  are  not  the  whole  of  our  emotions,  prompt  to  action,  or 
stimulate  the  active  machinery  of  the  living  framework  to  perform  such 
operations  as  procure  the  first  and  abate  the  last.  To  withdraw  from  a 
scalding  heat,  and  cling  to  a  gentle  warmth,  are  exercises  of  volition." 

The  last  of  these  definitions,  which  we  may  most  conve- 
niently take  first,  seems  to  us  very  faulty.  We  cannot  but 
feel  astonished  that  Mr.  Bain,  familiar  as  he  is  with  the 
phenomena  of  reflex  action,  should  have  so  expressed 
himself  as  to  include  a  great  part  of  them  along  with  the 
phenomena  of  volition.  He  seems  to  be  ignoring  the  dis- 
criminations of  modern  science,  and  returning  to  the  vague 
conceptions  of  the  past — nay  more,  he  is  comprehending 
under  volitipn  what  even  the  popular  speech  would  hardly 
bring  under  it.  If  you  were  to  blame  any  one  for  snatch- 
ing his  foot  from  the  scalding  water  into  which  he  had 
inadvertently  put  it,  he  would  tell  you  that  he  could  not 
help  it ;  and  his  reply  would  be  indorsed  by  the  general 
experience,  that  the  withdrawal  of  a  limb  from  contact  with 
something  extremely  hot,  is  quite  involuntary — that  it  takes 
place  not  only  without  volition,  but  in  defiance  of  an  effort 
of  will  to  maintain  the  contact.  How,  then,  can  that  be 
instanced  as  an  example  of  volition,  which  occurs  even 
when  volition  is  antagonistic  ?  We  are  quite  aware  that  it 
is  impossible  to  draw  any  absolute  line  of  demarcation 
between  automatic  actions  and  actions  which  are  not 
automatic.  Doubtless  we  may  pass  gi'adually  from  the 
purely  reflex,  through  the  consensual,  to  the  voluntary. 
Taking  the  case  Mr.  Bain  cites,  it  is  manifest  that  from  a 
heat  of  such  moderate  degree  that  the  withdrawal  from  it 
is  wholly  voluntary,  we  may  advance  by  infinitesimal  steps 


BAIN   ON   THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL.  259 

to  a  heat  which  compels  involuntary  withdrawal ;  and  thafc 
there  is  a  stage  at  which  the  voluntary  and  involuntary 
actions  are  mixed.  Bat  the  difficulty  of  absolute  discrimi- 
nation is  no  reason  for  neglecting  the  broad  general 
contrast;  any  more  than  it  is  for  confounding  light  with 
darkness.  If  we  are  to  include  as  examples  of  volition, 
all  cases  in  which  pleasures  and  pains  "  stimulate  the 
active  machinery  of  the  living  framework  to  perform  such 
operations  as  procure  the  first  and  abate  the  last,"  then 
we  must  consider  sneezing  and  coughing  as  examples  of 
volition ;  and  Mr.  Bain  surely  cannot  mean  this.  Indeed, 
we  must  confess  ourselves  at  a  loss.  On  the  one  hand  if 
he  does  not  mean  it,  his  expression  is  lax  to  a  degree  thafc 
surprises  us  in  so  careful  a  writer.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
he  does  mean  it,  we  cannot  understand  his  point  of  view. 

A  parallel  criticism  applies  to  his  definition  of  Emotion. 
Here,  too,  he  has  departed  from  the  ordinary  acceptation 
of  the  word;  and,  as  we  think,  in  the  wrong  direction. 
Whatever  may  be  the  interpretation  that  is  justified  by  its 
derivation,  the  word  emotion  has  come  generally  to  mean 
that  kind  of  feeling  which  is  not  a  direct  result  of  any 
action  on  the  organism ;  but  is  either  an  indirect  result  of 
such  action,  or  arises  quite  apart  from  such  action.  It  is 
used  to  indicate  those  sentient  states  which  are  inde- 
pendently generated  in  consciousness;  as  distinguished 
from  those  generated  in  our  corporeal  framework,  and 
known  as  sensations.  Now  this  distinction,  tacitly  made 
in  common  speech,  is  one  which  Psychology  cannot  well 
reject ;  but  one  whioh  it  must  adopt,  and  to  which  it  must 
give  scientific  precision.  Mr.  Bain,  however,  appears  to 
ignore  any  such  distinction.  Under  the  term  emotion, 
he  includes  not  only  passions,  sentiments,  affections,  but  all 
"  feelings,  states  of  feeling,  pleasures,  pains," — that  is,  all 
sensations.  This  does  not  appear  to  be  a  mere  lapse  of 
expression;  for  when,  in  the  opening  sentence,  he  asserts 


2G0  BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND   THE    WILL. 

tliat  "  mind  is  comprised  under  tlie  three  heads — Emotion, 
Volition,  and  Intellect/'  lie  of  necessity  implies  that  sensa- 
tion is  included  under  one  of  these  heads ;  and  as  it  cannot 
be  included  under  volition  or  intellect,  it  must  be  classed 
with  emotion ;   as  it  clearly  is  in  the  next  seutence. 

We  cannot  but  think  this  a  retrograde  stop.  Though 
distinctions  which  have  been  established  in  popular  thought 
and  language,  are  not  unfrequently  merged  in  the  higher 
generalizations  of  science  (as,  for  instance,  when  crabs  and 
worms  are  grouped  together  in  the  sub-kingdom  Annulosa) ; 
yet  science  very  generally  recognizes  the  validity  of  these 
distinctions,  as  real  though  not  fundamental.  And  so  in 
the  present  case.  Such  community  as  analysis  discloses 
between  sensation  and  emotion,  must  not  shut  out  the 
broad  contrast  that  exists  between  them.  If  there  needs  a 
wider  word,  as  there  does,  to  signify  any  sentient  state  what- 
ever; then  we  may  fitly  adopt  for  this  purpose  the  word 
currently  so  used,  namely,  "  Feeling."  And  considering 
as  Feelings  all  that  great  division  of  mental  states  which  we 
do  not  class  as  Cognitions,  we  may  then  separate  this  great 
division  into  the  two  orders.  Sensations  and  Emotions. 

And  here  we  may,  before  concluding,  briefly  indicate  the 
leading  outlines  of  a  classification  which  reduces  this 
distinction  to  a  scientific  form,  and  develops  it  somewhat 
further — a  classification  which,  while  suggested  by  certain 
fundamental  traits  reached  without  a  very  lengthened 
inquiry,  is  yet,  we  believe,  in  harmony  with  that  disclosed 
by  detailed  analysis. 

Leaving-  out  of  view  the  Will,  which  is  a  simple  homo- 
geneous mental  state,  forming*  the  link  between  feeling 
and  action,  and  not  admitting  of  subdivisions;  our  states 
of  consciousness  fall  into  two  great  classes — Cognitions 
and  Feelings, 

CoGNiiiONS,  or  those  modes  of  mind  in  which  wo  are 


BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL.  261 

occupied  witli  the  relations  tliat  sul)sist  among  our  feelingSj 
are  divisible  into  four  great  sub-classes. 

Prefientative  co'jvih'ons  ;  or  tliose  in  wliicli  consciousness 
is  occupied  in  localizing  a  sensation  impressed  on  tbe 
organism — occupied,  that  is,  with  the  relation  between  this 
presented  mental  state  and  those  other  presented  mental 
states  which  make  up  our  consciousness  of  the  part  affected: 
as  when  we  cut  ourselves. 

Presentative-rcjyresentative  cogmtion.t ;  or  those  in  which 
consciousness  is  occupied  with  the  relation  between  a  sensa- 
tion or  group  of  sensations  and  the  representations  of  those 
various  other  sensations  that  accompany  it  in  experience. 
This  is  what  we  commonly  call  perception — an  act  in  which, 
along  with  certain  impressions  presented  to  consciousness, 
there  arise  in  consciousness  the  ideas  of  certain  other  im- 
pressions ordinarily  connected  with  the  presented  ones  :  as 
when  its  visible  form  and  colour,  lead  us  to  mentally  endow 
an  orange  with  all  its  other  attributes. 

Represenfative  cognitions ;  or  those  in  which  consciousness 
is  occupied  with  the  relations  among  ideas  or  represented 
sensations ;  as  in  all  acts  of  recollection. 

Re-represent(dlve  cognitions ;  or  those  in  which  the 
occupation  of  consciousness  is  not  by  representation  of 
special  relations  that  have  before  been  presented  to  con- 
sciousness; but  those  in  which  such  represented  special 
relations  are  thought  of  merely  as  comprehended  in  a 
general  relation — those  in  which  the  concrete  relations 
once  experienced,  in  so  far  as  they  become  objects  of  con- 
sciousness at  all,  are  incidentally  represented,  along  with 
the  abstract  relation  which  formulates  them.  The  ideas 
resulting  from  this  abstraction,  do  not  themselves  represent 
actual  experiences;  but  are  symbols  which  stand  for  groups 
of  such  actual  experiences — represent  aggregates  of  repre- 
sentations. And  thus  they  may  be  called  re-representative 
cognitions.     It  is  clear  that  the  process  of  rc-reprcsenta- 


262  BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL. 

tion  is  carried  to  higher  stages,  as  the  thought  becomes 
more  abstract. 

Feelings,  or  those  modes  of  mind  in  which  we  are 
occupied,  not  with  the  relations  subsisting  between  our 
sentient  states,  but  with  the  sentient  states  themselves,  are 
divisible  into  four  parallel  sub-classes. 

Fresentative  feelings,  ordinarily  called  sensations,  are 
those  mental  states  in  which,  instead  of  regarding  a  corpo- 
real impression  as  of  this  or  that  kind,  or  as  located  here  or 
there,  we  contemplate  it  in  itself  as  pleasure  or  pain ;  as 
when  eating. 

Fresentative-rejpresentative  feelings,  embracing  a  great  part 
of  what  we  commonly  call  emotions,  are  those  in  which  a 
sensation,  or  group  of  sensations,  or  group  of  sensations  and 
ideas,  arouses  a  vast  aggregation  of  represented  sensations  ; 
partly  of  individual  experience,  but  chiefly  deeper  than 
individual  experience,  and,  consequently,  indefinite.  The 
emotion  of  terror  may  serve  as  an  example.  Along  with 
certain,  impressions  made  on  the  eyes  or  ears,  or  both,  are 
recalled  in  consciousness  many  of  the  pains  to  which  such 
impressions  have  before  been  the  antecedents;  and  when 
the  relation  between  such  impressions  and  such  pains  has 
been  habitual  in  the  race,  the  definite  ideas  of  such  pains 
which  individual  experience  has  given,  are  accompanied  by 
the  indefinite  pains  that  result  from  inherited  effects  of 
experiences — vague  feelings  which  we  may  call  organic 
representations.  In  an  infant,  crying  at  a  strange  sight  or 
sound  while  yet  in  the  nurse's  arms,  we  see  these  organic 
representations  called  into  existence  in  the  shope  of  dim 
discomfort,  to  which  individual  experience  has  yet  given  no 
specific  outlines. 

liepresentative  feelings,  comprehending  the  ideas  of  the 
feelings  above  classed,  when  they  are  called  up  apart  from 
the  appropriate  external  excitements.  As  instances  of 
these   may   be   named   the   feelings   with   which   the   de- 


BAIN    ON    XnE    EMOTIONS    AND    TUE    WILL.  263 

pci'iptive  poet  writes,  and  wliich  are  aroused  in  tlie  minds 
of  his  readers. 

Re-representative  feelings,  under  wliicli  head  are  inchided 
those  more  complex  sentient  states  that  are  less  the  direct 
results  of  external  excitements  than  the  indirect  or  reflex 
results  of  them.  The  love  of  property  is  a  feeling-  of  this 
kind.  It  is  awakened  not  by  the  presence  of  any  special 
object,  but  by  ownable  objects  at  large  ;  and  it  is  not  from 
the  mere  presence  of  such  object,  but  from  a  certain  ideal 
relation  to  them,  that  it  arises.  As  before  shown  (p.  253) 
it  consists,  not  of  the  represented  advantages  of  possess- 
ing this  or  that,  but  of  the  represented  advantages  of 
possession  in  general — is  not  made  up  of  certain  concrete 
representations,  but  of  the  abstracts  of  many  concrete 
representations  ;  and  so  is  re-representative.  The  higher 
sentiments,  as  that  of  justice,  are  still  more  completely  of 
this  nature.  Here  the  sentient  state  is  compounded  out 
of  sentient  states  that  are  themselves  wholly,  or  almost 
wholly,  re-representative  :  it  involves  representations  of 
those  lower  emotions  which  are  produced  by  the  possession 
of  property,  by  freedom  of  action,  etc. ;  and  thus  is  re- 
representative  in  a  higher  degree. 

This  classification,  here  roughly  indicated  and  capable 
of  further  expansion,  will  be  fuund  in  harmony  with  the 
results  of  detailed  analysis  aided  by  development.  Whether 
we  trace  mental  progression  through  the  grades  of  the 
animal  kingdom,  through  the  grades  of  mankind,  or  through 
the  stages  of  individual  growth;  it  is  obvious  that  tho 
advance,  alike  in  cognitions  and  feelings,  is,  and  must  be, 
from  the  presentative  to  the  more  and  more  remotely  repre- 
sentative. It  is  undeniable  that  intelligence  ascends  from 
those  simple  perceptions  in  which  consciousness  is  occupied 
in  localizing  and  classifying  sensations,  to  perceptions  more 
and  more  compound,  to  simple  reasoning,  to  reasoning 
more  and  more  complex  and  abstract — more  and  more 
remote  from  sensation.     And  in  the  evolution  of  feelings. 


2G4  BAIN    ON    THE    EMOTIONS    AND    THE    WILL. 

there  is  a  parallel  series  of  steps.  Simple  sensations ;  sen- 
sations combined  together;  sensations  combined  with  repre- 
sented sensations ;  represented  sensations  organized  into 
groups,  in  which  their  separate  characters  are  very  much 
merged ;  representations  of  these  representative  groups,  in 
which  the  original  components  have  become  still  more 
vague.  In  both  cases,  the  progress  has  necessarily  been 
from  the  simple  and  concrete  to  the  complex  and  abstract ; 
and  as  with  the  cognitions,  so  with  the  feelings,  this  must 
be  the  basis  of  classification. 

The  space  here  occupied  with  criticisms  on  Mr.  Bain's 
work,  we  might  have  filled  with  exposition  and  eulogy,  had 
we  thought  this  the  more  important.  Though  we  have 
freely  pointed  out  what  we  conceive  to  be  its  defects,  let  it 
not  be  inferred  that  we  question  its  great  merits.  We 
7"epeat  that,  as  a  natural  history  of  the  mind,  we  believe  it  to 
be  the  best  yet  produced.  It  is  a  most  valuable  collection 
of  carefully-elaborated  materials.  Perhaps  we  cannot 
better  express  our  sense  of  its  worth,  than  by  saying  that, 
to  those  who  hereafter  give  to  this  branch  of  Psychology 
a  thoroughly  scientific  organization,  Mr.  Bain's  book  will 
be  indispensable. 


THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM. 

\_First  published  in  The  Westminster  Review /or  January,  I860.] 

Sir  James  Macintosh  got  great  credit  for  the  saying,  that 
"  constitutions  are  not  made,  but  grow."  In  our  day,  the 
most  significant  thing  about  this  saying  is,  that  it  was  ever 
thought  so  significant.  As  from  the  surprise  displayed  by 
a  man  at  some  familiar  fact,  you  may  judge  of  his  general 
culture  ;  so  from  the  admiration  which  an  age  accords  to  a 
new  thought,  its  average  degree  of  enlightenment  may  be 
inferred.  That  this  apophthegm  of  Macintosh  should  have 
been  quoted  and  requoted  as  it  has,  shows  how  profound 
has  been  the  ignorance  of  social  science.  A  small  ray  of 
truth  has  seemed  brilliant,  as  a  distant  rushlight  looks  like 
a  star  in  the  surrounding  darkness. 

Such  a  conception  could  not,  indeed,  fail  to  be  startling 
when  let  fall  in  the  midst  of  a  system  of  thought  to  which 
it  was  utterly  alien.  Universally  in  Macintosh's  day, 
things  were  explained  on  the  hypothesis  of  manufacture, 
rather  than  that  of  growth ;  as  indeed  they  are,  by  the 
majority,  in  our  own  day.  It  was  held  that  the  planets 
were  severally  projected  round  the  Sun  from  the  Creator's 
hand,  with  just  the  velocity  required  to  balance  the  Sun's 
attraction.  The  formation  of  the  Earth,  the  separation  of 
sea  from  land,  the  production  of  animals,  were  mechanical 
works  from  which  God  rested  as  a  labourer  rests.  Man 
was  supposed  to  be  moulded  after  a  manner  somewhat 
akin  to  that  in  which  a  modeller  makes  a  clay-tigure.    Aud 


2G6  THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM. 

of  course,  in  harmony  witli  sucli  ideas,  societies  were  tacitly 
assumed  to  be  arranged  thus  or  thus  by  direct  interposition 
of  Providence;  or  by  the  regulations  of  law-makers;  or 
by  both. 

Yet  that  societies  are  not  artificially  put  together,  is  a 
truth  so  manifest,  that  it  seems  wonderful  men  should  erer 
have  overlooked  it.  Perhaps  nothing  more  clearly  shows 
the  small  value  of  historical  studies,  as  they  have  been 
commonly  pursued.  You  ueed  but  to  look  at  the  changes 
going  on  around,  or  observe  social  organization  in  its  lead- 
ing traits,  to  see  that  these  are  neither  supernatural,  nor 
are  determined  by  the  wills  of  individual  men,  as  by 
implication  the  older  historians  teach ;  but  are  consequent 
on  general  natural  causes.  The  one  case  of  the  division  of 
labour  suffices  to  prove  this.  It  has  not  been  by  command 
of  any  ruler  that  some  men  have  become  manufactui-ers, 
while  others  have  remained  cultivators  of  the  soil.  In 
Lancashire,  millions  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  making 
of  cotton-fabrics ;  in  Yorkshire,  another  million  lives  by 
producing  woollens;  and  the  pottery  of  Staffordshire,  the 
cutlery  of  Sheffield,  the  hardware  of  Biriningham,  severally 
occupy  their  hundreds  of  thousands.  These  are  large  facts 
in  the  structure  of  English  society;  but  we  can  ascribe 
them  neither  to  miracle,  nor  to  legislation.  It  is  not  by 
"the  hero  as  king,"  any  more  than  by  "collective  wisdom,^' 
that  men  have  been  segregated  into  producers,  wholesale 
distributors,  and  retail  distributors.  Our  industrial  orga- 
nization, from  its  main  outlines  down  to  its  minutest  details, 
has  become  what  it  is,  not  simply  without  legislative  guid- 
ance, but,  to  a  considerable  extent,  in  spite  of  legislative 
hindrances.  It  has  arisen  under  the  pressure  of  human 
wants  and  resulting  activities.  While  each  citizen  has 
been  pursuing  his  individual  welfare,  and  none  taking 
thought  about  division  of  labour,  or  conscious  of  the  need 
of  it,  division  of  labour  has  yet  been  ever  becoming  more 
complete.     It  has  been  doin^  tnis  slowly  and  silently  :  few 


THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM.  207 

having  observed  it  until  quite  modern  times.  By  steps  so 
small,  that  year  after  year  tHe  industrial  arrangements 
have  seemed  just  what  they  were  before — by  changes  as 
insensible  as  those  through  which  a  seed  passes  into  a  tree; 
society  has  become  the  complex  body  of  mutually-dependent 
workers  which  we  now  see.  And  this  economic  organiza- 
tion, mark,  is  the  all-essential  organization.  Through  the 
combination  thus  spontaneously  evolved,  every  citizen  is 
supplied  with  daily  necessaries ;  while  he  yields  some 
product  or  aid  to  others.  That  we  are  severally  alive  to-day, 
we  owe  to  the  regular  working  of  this  combination  during 
the  past  week  ;  and  could  it  be  suddenly  abolished,  multi- 
tudes would  be  dead  before  another  week  ended.  If  these 
most  conspicuous  and  vital  arrangements  of  our  social 
structure  have  arisen  not  by  the  devising  of  any  one,  but 
through  the  individual  efforts  of  citizens  to  satisfy  their 
own  wants;  we  may  be  tolerably  certain  that  the  less 
important  arrangements  have  similarly  arisen. 

"But  surely,"  it  will  be  said,  "the  social  changes 
directly  produced  by  law,  cannot  be  classed  as  spontaneous 
growths.  When  parliaments  or  kings  order  this  or  that 
thing  to  be  done,  and  appoint  officials  to  do  it,  the  process 
is  clearly  artificial ;  and  society  to  this  extent  becomes  a 
manufacture  rather  than  a  growth."  No,  not  even  these 
changes  are  exceptions,  if  they  be  real  and  permanent 
changes.  The  true  sources  of  such  changes  lie  deeper  than 
the  acts  of  legislators.  To  take  first  the  simplest  instance. 
We  all  know  that  the  enactments  of  representative  govern- 
ments ultimately  depend  on  the  national  will:  they  may 
for  a  time  be  out  of  harmony  with  it,  but  eventually  they 
must  conform  to  it.  And  to  say  that  the  national  will 
finally  determines  them,  is  to  say  that  they  result  from  the 
average  of  individual  desires ;  or,  in  other  words — from 
the  average  of  individual  natures.  A  law  so  initiated, 
therefore,  really  grows  out  of  the  popular  character.  In 
the  case  of  a  Government  represcutiiig  a  dominant  clasSj 


268  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

the  same  tiling  holds,  though  not  so  manifestly.  For  the 
very  existence  of  a  class  monopolizing  all  power,  is  due  to 
certain  sentiments  in  the  commonalty.  Without  the  feeling 
of  loyalty  on  the  part  of  retainers,  a  feudal  system  could 
not  exist.  We  see  in  the  protest  of  the  Highlanders 
against  the  abolition  of  heritable  jurisdictions,  that  they 
preferred  that  kind  of  local  rule.  And  if  to  the  popular 
nature  must  be  ascribed  the  growth  of  an  irresponsible 
ruling  class  ;  then  to  the  popular  nature  must  be  ascribed 
the  social  arrangements  which  that  class  creates  in  the 
pursuit  of  its  own  ends.  Even  where  the  Government  is 
despotic,  the  doctrine  still  holds.  The  character  of  the 
people  is,  as  before,  the  original  source  of  this  political 
form ;  and,  as  we  have  abundant  proof,  other  forms 
suddenly  created  will  not  act,  but  rapidly  retrograde  to  the 
old  form.  Moreover,  such  regulations  as  a  despot  makes, 
if  really  operative,  are  so  because  of  their  fitness  to  the 
social  state.  His  acts  being  very  much  swayed  by  general 
opinion — by  precedent,  by  the  feeling  of  his  nobles,  his 
priesthood,  his  army — are  in  part  immediate  results  of  the 
national  character;  and  when  they  are  out  of  harmony  with 
the  national  character,  they  are  soon  practically  abrogated. 
The  failure  of  Croqwell  permanently  to  establish  a  new 
social  condition,  and  the  rapid  revival  of  suppressed  insti- 
tutions and  practices  after  his  death,  show  how  powerless 
is  a  monarch  to  change  the  type  of  the  society  he  governs. 
/He  may  disturb,  he  may  retard,  or  he  may  aid  the  natural 
process  of  organization ;  but  the  general  course  of  this 
process  is  beyond  his  control.  Nay,  more  than  this  is  true. 
Those  who  regard  the  histories  of  societies  as  the  histories 
of  their  great  men,  and  think  that  these  great  men  shape 
the  fates  of  their  societies,  overlook  the  truth  that  such 
great  men  are  the  products  of  their  societies.  Without 
certain  antecedents — without  a  certain  average  national 
character,  they  neither  could  have  been  generated  nor 
could  have  had  the  culture  which  formed  them.     If  their 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  269 

society  is  to  some  extent  re-moulded  by  them,  they  were, 
both  before  and  after  birth,  moulded  by  their  society — 
were  the  results  of  all  those  influences  which  fostered  the 
ancestral  character  they  inherited,  and  gave  their  own 
early  bias,  their  creed,  morals,  knowledge,  aspirations.  So 
that  such  social  changes  as  are  immediately  traceable  to 
individuals  of  unusual  power,  are  still  remotely  traceable 
to  the  social  causes  which  produced  these  individuals;  and 
hence,  from  the  highest  point  of  view,  such  social  changes 
also,  are  parts  of  the  general  developmental  process. 

Thus  that  which  is  so  obviously  true  of  the  industrial 
structure  of  society,  is  true  of  its  whole  structure.  The 
fact  that  "  constitutions  are  not  made,  but  grow,"  is  simpler 
a  fragment  of  the  much  larger  fact,  that  under  all  its 
aspects  and  through  all  its  ramifications,  society  is  a 
growth  and  not  a  manufacture. 

A  perception  that  there  exists  some  analogy  between 
the  body  politic  and  a  living  individual  body,  was  early 
reached  ;  and  has  from  time  to  time  re-appeared  in  litera- 
ture. But  this  perception  was  necessarily  vague  and  more 
or  less  fanciful.  In  the  absence  of  physiological  science, 
and  especially  of  those  comprehensive  generalizations  which 
it  has  but  lately  reached,  it  was  impossible  to  discern  the 
real  parallelisms. 

The  central  idea  of  Plato's  model  Republic,  is  the  corre- 
spondence between  the  parts  of  a  society  and  the  faculties 
1  of  the  human  mind.  Classifying  these  faculties  under 
the  heads  of  Reason,  Will,  and  Passion,  he  classifies  the 
members  of  his  ideal  society  undei  what  he  regards  as 
three  analogous  heads  : — councillors,  who  are  to  exercise 
government ;  military  or  executive,  who  are  to  fulfil  their 
behests ;  and  the  commonalty,  bent  on  gain  and  selfish 
gratification.  In  other  words,  the  ruler,  the  warrior,  and 
the  craftsman,  are,  ace  ording  to  him,  the  analogues  of  our 
reflective,  volitional,    and   emotional   powers.     Now   even 


270  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

were  there  truth  in  the  iiripliorl  assumption  of  a  parallelism 
between  the  structure  of  a  society  and  that  of  a  man,  this 
classification  would  be  indefensible.  It  mig-ht  more  truly 
be  contended  that,  as  the  military  power  obeys  the  com- 
mands of  the  Government,  it  is  the  Government  which 
answers  to  the  Will ;  while  the  military  power  is  simply 
an  agency  set  in  motion  by  it.  Or,  again,  it  might  be 
contended  that  whereas  the  Will  is  a  product  of  predom- 
inant desires,  to  which  the  Reason  serves  merely  as  an 
eye,  it  is  the  craftsmen,  who,  according  to  the  alleged 
analogy,  ought  to  be  the  moving  power  of  the  warriors. 
""/^  Hobbes  sought  to  establish  a  still  more  definite  parallelism : 
not,  however,  between  a  society  and  the  human  mind,  but 
between  a  society  and  the  human  body.  In  the  introduc- 
tion to  the  work  in  which  he  develops  this  conception, 
he  says — 

"  For  by  art  is  created  that  great  Leviathan  called  a  Commonwealth,  or 
State,  in  Latin  Civitas,  which  is  but  an  artificial  man  ;  though  of  greater 
stature  and  strength  than  the  natural,  for  whose  protection  and  defence  it 
was  intended,  and  in  which  the  sovereignty  is  an  artificial  soul,  as  giving  life 
and  motion  to  the  whole  body ;  the  magistrates  and  other  officers  of  judica- 
ture and  execution,  artificial  joints ;  reward  and  punislwient,  by  which, 
fastened  to  the  seat  of  the  sovereignty,  every  joint  and  member  is  moved  to 
perform  his  duty,  are  the  nerves,  that  do  the  same  in  the  body  natural ;  the 
wealth  and  riches  of  all  the  particular  members  are  the  strength;  salus 
pojndi,  the  people's  safety,  its  btisiness ;  counsellors,  by  whom  all  things 
needful  for  it  to  know  are  suggested  unto  it,  are  the  memory  ;  equity  and 
laics  &n  artificial  reason  a,nd  will;  concord,  liealth ;  sedition,  sickness;  and 
civil  icar.  death." 

And  Hobbes  carries  this  comparison  so  far  as  actually  to 
/        give  a  drawing  of  the  Leviathan — a  vast   human-shaped 
I         figure,  whose  body  and  limbs  are  made  up  of  multitudes 
'         of  men.     Just  notins^  that  these  different  analocries  asserted 
by  Plato  and  Hobbes,  serve  to  cancel  each  other  (being, 
as  they  are,  so  completely  at  variance),  we  may  say  that 
on  the  whole  those  of    Hobbes  are   the    more   plausible. 
But  they  are  full  of   inconsistencies.     If  the  sovereignty 
is  the  soul  of  the  body-politic,  how  can  it  be  that  magis- 
trates, who   are  a  kind  of   deputy-sovereigns,   should   bo 


THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISJI.  271 

comparable  to  joints?  Or,  again^  liow  can  tlio  three 
niontal  functions,  memory,  reason,  and  will,  be  severally 
analogous,  the  first  to  counsellors,  who  are  a  class  of  public 
officers,  and  the  other  two  to  equity  and  laws,  which,  are 
not  classes  of  officers,  but  abstractions  ?  Or,  once  more, 
if  magistrates  are  the  artificial  joints  of  society,  bow  can 
reward  and  punishment  be  its  nerves  ?  Its  nerves  must 
surely  be  some  class  of  persons.  Eeward  and  punishment 
must  in  societies,  as  in  individuals,  be  conditions  of  tbe 
nerves,  and  not  the  nerves  themselves. 

But  the  chief  errors  of  these  comparisons  made  by  Plato 
and  Hobbes,  lie  much  deeper.  Both  thinkers  assume  that 
the  organization  of  a  society  is  comparable,  not  simply  to 
the  organization  of  a  living  body  in  general,  but.XQ_the 
organization  of  the  human  body  in  particular.  There  is 
no  warrant  whatever  for  assuming  this.  It  is  in  no  way 
iniplied  by  the  evidence  ;  and  is  simply  one  of  those 
fancies  which  we  commonly  find  mixed  up  with  the  truths 
of  early  speculation.  Still  more  erroneous  are  the  two 
conceptions  in  this,  that  they  construe  a  society  as  an 
artificial  structure.  Plato's  model  republic — his  ideal  of  a 
healthful  body-politic — is  to  be  consciously  put  together 
by  men,  just  as  a  watch  might  be  ;  and  Plato  manifestly 
thinks  of  societies  in  general  as  thus  originated.  Quite 
specifically  does  Hobbes  express  a  like  view.  "  For  by 
art,"  he  says,  "  is  created  that  great  Leviathan  called  a 
Commonwealth.^'  And  he  even  goes  so  far  as  to  compare 
the  supposed  social  contract,  from  which  a  society  suddenly 
originates,  to  the  creation  of  a  man  by  the  divine  fiat. 
Thus  they  both  fall  into  the  extreme  inconsistency  of  con- 
sidering a  community  as  similar  in  structure  to  a  hum;tn 
being,  and  yet  as  produced  in  the  same  way  as  an  artificial 
mechanism — in  nature,  an  organism  ;  in  history,  a  machine. 

Notwithstanding  errors,  however,  these  f^peculations  have 
considerable  significance.  That  such  likenesses,  crudely  as 
they  are  thought  out,  should  have  been  alleged  by  Plato 


272  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

and  Hobbes  and  others,  is  a  reason  for  suspecting  that 
so7ne  analogy  exists.  The  untenableness  of  the  particular 
parallelisms  above  instanced^  is  no  ground  for  denying  an 
essential  parallelism ;  since  early  ideas  are  usually  but 
vague  adumbrations  of  the  truth.  Lacking  the  great 
generalizations  of  biology,  it  was,  as  we  have  said,  impos- 
sible to  trace  out  the  real  relations  of  social  organizations 
to  organizations  of  another  order.  We  propose  here  to  show 
what  are  the  analogies  which,  modern  science  discloses. 

Let  us  set  out  by  succinctly  stating  the  points  of  simi- 
larity and  the  points  of  difference.  Societies  agree  with 
individual  organisms  in  four  conspicuous  peculiarities  : — 

1.  That  commencing  as  small  aggregations,  they 
insensibly  augment  in  mass :  some  of  them  eventually 
reaching  ten  thousand  times  what  they  originally  were. 

2.  That  while  at  first  so  simple  in  structure  as  to  be  con- 
sidered structureless,  they  assume,  in  tbe  course  of  their 
growth,  a  continually-increasing  complexity  of  structure. 

3.  That  though  in  their  early,  undeveloped  states,  there 
exists  in  them  scarcely  any  mutual  dependence  of  parts, 
their  parts  gradually  acquire  a  mutual  dependence ;  which 
becomes  at  last  so  great,  that  the  activity  and  life  of  each 
part  is  made  possible  only  by  the  activity  and  life  of  the  rest. 

4.  That  the  life  of  a  society  is  independent  of,  and  far 
more  prolonged  than,  the  lives  of  any  of  its  component 
units ;  who  are  severally  born,  grow,  work,  reproduce,  and 
die,  while  the  body-politic  composed  of  them  survives 
generation  after  generation,  increasing  in  mass,  in  com- 
pleteness of  structure,  and  in  functional  activity. 

These  four  parallelisms  will  appear  the  more  significant 
the  more  we  contemplate  them.  While  the  points  specified, 
are  points  in  which  societies  agree  with  individual  organ- 
isms, they  are  also  points  in  which  individual  organisms 
agree  with  one  another,  and  disagree  with  all  things  else, 
lu   the    course  of   its  existence,   every  plant  and  animal 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  273 

increases  in  mass,  in  a  waj  not  paralleled  by  inorganic 
objects  :  even  sucb  inorganic  objects  as  crystals,  which 
arise  by  growth,  show  us  no  such  definite  relation  between 
growth  and  existence  as  organisms  do.  The  orderly 
progress  from  simplicity  to  complexity,  displayed  by 
bodies-politic  in  common  with  living  bodies,  is  a  charac- 
teristic which  distinguishes  living  bodies  from  the  inanimate 
bodies-amid  which  they  move.  That  functional  depend- 
ence of  parts,  which  is  scarcely  more  manifest  in  animals 
than  in  nations,  has  no  counterpart  elsewhere.  And  in 
no  aggregate  except  an  organic  or  a  social  one,  is  there 
a  perpetual  removal  and  replacement  of  parts,  joined 
with  a  continued  integrity  of  the  whole.  Moreover,  societies 
and  organisms  are  not  only  alike  in  these  peculiarities,  in 
which  they  are  unlike  all  other  things ;  but  the  highest 
societies,  like  the  highest  organisms,  exhibit  them  in  the 
greatest  degree.  We  see  that  the  lowest  animals  do  not 
increase  to  anything  like  the  sizes  of  the  higher  ones ;  and, 
similarly,  we  see  that  aboriginal  societies  are  comparatively 
limited  in  their  growths.  In  complexity,  our  large  civilized 
nations  as  much  exceed  primitive  savage  tribes,  as  a 
mammal  does  a  zoophyte.  Simple  communities,  like  simple 
creatures,  have  so  little  mutual  dependence  of  parts,  that 
mutilation  or  subdivision  causes  but  little  inconvenience ; 
but  from  complex  communities,  as  from  complex  creatures, 
you  cannot  remove  any  considerable  organ  without  pro- 
ducing great  disturbance  or  death  of  the  rest.  And  in 
societies  of  low  type,  as  in  inferior  animals,  the  life  of 
the  aggregate,  often  cut  short  by  division  or  dissolution, 
exceeds  in  length  the  lives  of  the  component  units,  VLcy 
far  less  than  in  civilized  communities  and  superior  animals; 
which  outlive  many  generations  of  their  component  units. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  leading  differences  between 
societies  and  individual  organisms  are  these : — 

1.  That  societies  have  no  specific  external  forms.  This, 
however,  is  a  point  of  contrast  which  loses  much  of  its 


274  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

importance,  wlicn  we  remember  tliafc  tlirougliout  the 
vegetal  kingdom,  as  well  as  in  some  lower  divisions  of  tlie 
animal  kingdom,  the  forms  are  often  very  indefinite — 
definiteness  being  rather  the  exception  than  the  rule  ;  and 
that  thej  are  manifestly  in  part  determined  by  surrounding 
physical  circumstances,  as  the  forms  of  societies  are.  If, 
too,  it  should  eventually  be  shown,  as  we  believe  it  will, 
that  the  form  of  every  species  of  organism  has  resulted 
from  the  average  play  of  the  external  forces  to  which  it 
has  been  subject  during  its  evolution  as  a  species  ;  then,  that 
the  external  forms  of  societies  should  depend,  as  they  do,  on 
surrounding  conditions,  will  be  a  further  point  of  community. 
2.  That  though  the  living  tissue  whereof  an  individual 
organism  consists,  forms  a  continuous  mass,  the  living 
elements  of  a  society  do  not  form  a  continuous  mass ;  but 
are  more  or  less  widely  dispersed  over  some  portion  of  the 
Earth's  surface.  This,  which  at  first  sight  appears  to  be 
an  absolute  distinction,  is  one  which  yet  to  a  great  extent 
fades  when  we  contemplate  all  the  facts.  For,  in  the  lower 
divisions  of  the  animal  and  vegetal  kingdoms,  there  are 
types  of  organization  much  more  nearly  allied,  in  this 
respect,  to  the  organization  of  a  society,  than  might  be 
supposed — types  in  which  the  living  units  essentially  com- 
posing the  mass,  are  dispersed  through  an  inert  substance, 
that  can  scarcely  be  called  living  in  the  full  sense  of  the 
word.  It  is  thus  with  some  of  the  Protocucci  and  with  the 
NostocecB,  which  exist  as  cells  imbedded  in  a  viscid  matter. 
It  is  so,  too,  with  the  ThaJa^itiicollce, — bodies  made  up  of 
d iS erentiated  parts,  dispersed  through  an  undifferentiated 
j^lly.  And  throughout  considerable  portions  of  their 
bodies,  some  of  the  Acalephce  exhibit  more  or  less  this  type 
of  structure.  Now  this  is  very  much  the  case  with  a  society. 
For  we  must  remember  that  though  the  men  who  make  up 
a  society  are  physically  separate,  and  even  scattered,  yet 
the  surface  over  which  they  are  scattered  is  not  one  devoid 
of   life,   but   is   covered    by  life    of  a  lower  order  which 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  275 

ministers  to  tlieir  life.  The  vegetation  which  clothes  a 
country  makes  possible  the  animal  life  in  that  country;  and 
only  through  its  animal  and  vegetal  products  can  such  a 
country  support  a  society.  Hence  the  members  of  the 
body-politic  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  separated  by 
intervals  of  dead  space,  but  as  diffused  through  a  space 
occupied  by  life  of  a  lower  order.  In  our  conception  of  a 
social  organism,  we  must  include  all  that  lower  organic 
existence  on  which  human  existence^  and  therefore  social 
existence,  depend.  And  when  we  do  this,  we  see  that  the 
citizens  who  make  up  a  community  may  be  considered  as 
highly  vitalized  units  surrounded  by  substances  of  lower 
vitality,  from  which  they  draw  their  nutriment :  much  as 
in  the  cases  above  instanced. 

3.  The  third  difference  is  that  while  the  ultimate  living- 
elements  of  an  individual  organism  are  mostly  fixed  in 
their  relative  positions,  those  of  the  social  organism  are 
capable  of  moving  from  place  to  place.  But  here,  too,  the 
disagreement  is  much  less  than  would  be  supposed.  For 
while  citizens  are  locomotive  in  their  private  capacities, 
they  are  fixed  in  their  public  capacities.  As  farmers, 
manufacturers,  or  traders,  men  carry  on  their  businesses 
at  the  same  spots,  often  throughout  their  whole  lives ;  and 
if  they  go  away  occasionally,  they  leave  behind  others  to 
discharge  their  functions  in  tlieir  absence.  Each  great 
Icentre  of  production,  each  manufacturing  town  or  district, 
{continues  always  in  the  same  place ;  and  many  of  the  firms 
in  such  town  or  district,  are  for  generations  carried  on 
cither  by  the  descendants  or  successors  of  those  who 
founded  them.  Just  as  in  a  living  body,  the  cells  that 
make  up  some  important  organ  severally  perform  their 
functions  for  a  time  and  then  disappear,  leaving  others  to 
supply  their  places ;  so,  in  each  part  of  a  society  the  organ 
remains,  though  the  persons  who  compose  it  change.  Thus, 
in  social  life,  as  in  the  life  of  an  animal,  the  units  as  well 
as  tbe  larger  agencies  furmed  of   them,  are  in  the  main 


276  THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM. 

Stationary  as  respects  the  places  where  they  discharge  their 
duties  and  obtain  their  sustenance.  And  hence  the  power 
of  individual  locomotion  does  not  practically  affect  the 
analogy. 

4.  The  last  and  perhaps  the  most  important  distinction 
is,  that  while  in  the  body  of  an  animal  only  a  special  tissue 
is  endowed  with  feelings  in  a  society  all  the  members  are 
endowed  with  feeling.  Even  this  distinction,  however,  is 
not  a  complete  one.  For  in  some  of  the  lowest  animals, 
characterized  by  the  absence  of  a  nervous  system,  such 
sensitiveness  as  exists  is  possessed  by  all  parts.  It  is  only 
in  the  more  organized  forms  that  feeling  is  monopolized  by 
one  class  of  the  vital  elements.  And  we  must  remember 
that  societies,  too,  are  not  without  a  certain  differentiation 
of  this  kind.  Though  the  units  of  a  community  are  all 
sensitive,  they  are  so  in  unequal  degrees.  The  classes 
engaged  in  laborious  occupations  are  less  susceptible, 
intellectually  and  emotionally,  than  the  rest;  and  especially 
less  so  than  the  classes  of  highest  mental  culture.  Still,  we 
have  here  a  tolerably  decided  contrast  between  bodies- 
politic  and  individual  bodies;  and  it  is  one  which  we 
should  keep  constantly  in  view.  For  it  reminds  us  that 
while,  in  individual  bodies,  the  welfare  of  all  other  parts  is 
rightly  subservient  to  the  welfare  of  the  nervous  system, 
whose  pleasurable  or  painful  activities  make  up  the  good 
or  ill  of  life;  in  bodies-politic  the  same  thing  does  not 
hold,  or  holds  to  but  a  very  slight  extent.  It  is  well  that 
the  lives  of  all  parts  of  an  animal  should  be  merged  in  the 
life  of  the  whole,  because  the  whole  has  a  corporate  con- 
sciousness capable  of  happiness  or  misery.  But  it  is  not  so 
with  a  society ;  since  its  living  units  do  not  and  cannot 
lose  individual  consciousness,  and  since  the  community  as  a 
whole  has  no  corporate  consciousness.  This  is  an  everlast- 
ing reason  why  the  welfares  of  citizens  cannot  rightly  be 
sacrificed  to  some  supposed  benefit  of  the  State,  and  why, 
on  the  other  hand,   the  State  is  to  be  maintained  solely , 


THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM.  277 

for  the  benefit  of  citizens.  The  corporate  life  must  here 
be  subservient  to  the  lives  of  the  parts,  instead  of  the  lives 
of  the  parts  being  subservient  to  the  corporate  life. 

Such,  then,  are  the  points  of  analogy  and  the  points  of 
difference.  May  we  not  say  that  the  points  of  difference 
serve  but  to  bring  into  clearer  light  the  points  of  analogy  ? 
While  comparison  makes  definite  the  obvious  contrasts 
between  organisms  commonly  so  called,  and  the  social 
organism,  it  shows  that  even  these  contrasts  are  not  so 
decided  as  was  to  be  expected.  The  indetiniteness  of  form, 
the  discontinuity  of  the  parts,  and  the  universal  sensitive- 
ness, are  not  only  pecuUarities  of  the  social  organism  which 
have  to  be  stated  with  considerable  qualifications;  but  they 
are  peculiarities  to  which  the  inferior  classes  of  animals 
present  approximations.  Thus  we  find  but  little  to  conflict 
with  the  all-important  analogies.  Societies  slowly  augment 
in  mass ;  they  progress  in  complexity  of  structure ;  at  the 
same  time  their  parts  become  more  mutually  dependent; 
their  living  units  are  removed  and  replaced  without 
destroying  their  integrity ;  and  the  extents  to  which  they 
display  these  peculiarities  are  proportionate  to  their  vital 
activities.  These  are  traits  that  societies  have  in  common 
with  organic  bodies.  And  these  traits  in  which  they  agree 
with  organic  bodies  and  disagree  with  all  other  things, 
entirely  subordinate  the  minor  distinctions :  such  distinc- 
tions being  scarcely  greater  than  those  which  separate  one 
half  of  the  organic  kingdom  from  the  other.  The  'principhs 
of  organization  are  the  same,  and  the  differences  are  simply 
differences  of  application. 

Here  ending  this  general  survey  of  the  facts  which 
justify  the  comparison  of  a  society  with  a  living  body,  let  us 
look  at  them  in  detail.  We  shall  find  that  the  parallelism 
becomes  the  more  marked  the  more  closely  it  is  examined. 

The  lowest  animal  and  vegetal  forms — Protozoa  and 
Trvlophyta — are  chiefly  inhabitants  of  the  water.      They 


278  THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM. 

are  minu'te  bodies,  most  of  wliich.  are  made  individually 
visible  only  by  the  microscope.  All  of  them  are  extremely 
simple  in  structure,  and  some  of  them,  as  the  Ehizopods, 
almost  structureless.  Multiplying,  as  they  ordinarily  do, 
by  the  spontaneous  division  of  their  bodies,  they  produce 
halves  which  may  either  become  quite  separate  and  move 
away  in  different  directions,  or  may  continue  attached.  By 
the  repetition  of  this  process  of  fission,  aggregations  of 
various  sizes  and  kinds  are  formed.  Among  the  Protophyta 
we  have  some  classes,  as  the  Viatomacece  and  the  Yeast- 
plant,  in  which  the  individuals  may  be  either  separate  or 
attached  in  groups  of  two,  three,  four,  or  more;  other 
classes  in  which  a  considerable  number  of  cells  are  united 
into  a  thread  {Conferva,  Monilia) ;  others  in  which  they 
form  a  network  {Hydrodidyon) ;  others  in  which  they  form 
plates  [Viva)  ;  and  others  in  which  they  form  masses 
{Laminaria,  Agaricus)  :  all  which  vegetal  forms,  having  no 
distinction  of  root,  stem,  or  leaf,  are  called  Thallogens. 
Among  the  Protozoa  we  find  parallel  facts.  Immense 
numbers  of  ^ma^6a-like  creatures,  massed  together  in  a 
framework  of  hoi-ny  fibres,  constitute  Sponge.  In  the 
Foraminifera  we  see  smaller  groups  of  such  creatures 
arranged  into  more  definite  shapes.  Not  only  do  these 
almost  structureless  Protozoa  unite  into  regular  or  irregular 
aggregations  of  various  sizes,  but  among  some  of  the  more 
organized  ones,  as  the  Vorticellce,  there  are  also  produced 
clusters  of  individuals  united  to  a  common  stem.  But 
these  little  societies  of  monads,  or  cells,  or  whatever  else 
we  may  call  them,  are  societies  only  in  the  lowest  sense : 
there  is  no  subordination  of  parts  among  them — no  organiz- 
ation. Each  of  the  component  units  lives  by  and  for  itself ; 
neither  giving  nor  receiving  aid.  The  only  mutual  depend- 
ence is  that  consequent  on  mechanical  union. 

Do  we  not  here  discern  analogies  to  the  first  stages  of 
human  societies  ?  Among  the  lowest  races,  as  the  Bushmen, 
We    find    bac    incipient    aggregation:     sometimes     single 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  279 

families,  sometlmos  two  or  tliree  families  wandering  about 
together.  The  number  of  associated  units  is  small  and 
variable,  and  their  unie)n  inconstant.  No  division  of  labour 
exists  except  between  the  sexes,  and  the  only  kind  of 
mutual  aid  is  that  of  joint  attack  or  defence.  We  see  an 
undifferentiated  group  of  individuals,  forming  the  germ 
of  a  society ;  just  as  in  the  homogeneous  groups  of  cells 
above  described,  we  see  the  initial  stage  of  animal  and 
veeretal  oro^anization. 

The  comparison  may  now  be  carried  a  step  higher.  In 
the  vegetal  kingdom  we  pass  from  the  Thalloyens,  consist- 
ing of  mere  masses  of  similar  cells,  to  the  Acrogens,  in 
which  the  cells  are  not  similar  throughout  the  whole  mass  ; 
but  are  here  aggregated  into  a  structure  serving  as  leaf 
and  there  into  a  structure  serving  as  root;  thus  forming  a 
w^Tole  in  which  there  is  a  certain  subdivision  of  functions 
among  the  units,  and  therefore  a  certain  mutual  depend- 
ence. In  the  animal  kingdom  we  find  analogous  progress. 
From  mere  unorganized  groups  of  cells,  or  cell-like  bodies, 
we  ascend  to  groups  of  such  cells  arranged  into  parts  that 
have  different  duties.  The  common  Polype,  from  the 
substance  of  which  may  be  separated  cells  that  exhibit, 
when  detached,  appearances  and  movements  like  those  of  a 
soWtsiV J  Am  ceba,  illustrates  this  stage.  The  component  units, 
though  still  showing  great  community  of  character,  assume 
somewhat  diverse  functions  in  the  skin,  in  the  internal 
surface,  and  in  the  tentacles.  There  is  a  certain  amount 
of  "  physiological  division  of  labour." 

Turning  to  societies,  we  find  these  stages  paralleled  in 
most  aboriginal  tribes.  When,  instead  of  such  small 
variable  groups  as  are  formed  by  Bushmen,  we  come  to 
the  larger  and  more  permanent  groups  formed  by  savages 
not  quite  so  low,  we  find  traces  of  social  structure.  Though 
industrial  organization  scarcely  shows  itself,  except  in  the 
difl'ennt  occupations  of  the  sexes;  yet  there  is  more  or 
less  of  governmental  organization.  While  all  the  men  are 
19 


280  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

warriors  and  hunters,  only  a  part  of  tliem  are  included  in 
the  council  of  chiefs ;  and  in  this  council  of  chiefs  some 
one  has  commonly  supreme  authority.  There  is  thus  a 
certain  distinction  of  classes  and  powers ;  and  throug-h 
this  slight  specialization  of  functions  is  effected  a  rudo 
co-operation  among*  the  increasing  mass  of  individuals, 
whenever  the  society  has  to  act  in  its  corporate  capacity. 
IBeyond  this  analogy  in  the  slight  extent  to  which  organiza- 
tion is  carried,  there  is  analogy  in  the  indefiniteness  of 
the  organization.  In  the  Hydra,  the  respective  pai-ts  of 
the  creature's  substance  have  many  functions  in  common. 
They  are  all  contractile  ;  omitting  the  tentacles,  the  whole 
of  the  external  surface  can  give  origin  to  young  liydrce; 
and,  when  turned  inside  out,  stomach  performs  the  duties 
of  skin  and  skin  the  duties  of  stomach.  In  aboriginal 
societies  such  differentiations  as  exist  are  similarly  imper- 
fect. Notwithstanding  distinctions  of  rank,  all  persons 
maintain  themselves  by  their  own  exertions.  Not  only 
do  the  head  men  of  the  tribe,  in  common  with  the  rest, 
build  their  own  huts,  make  their  own  weapons,  kill  their 
own  food  ;  but  the  chief  does  the  like.  Moreover,  such 
governmental  organization  as  exists  is  inconstant.  It  is 
frequently  changed  by  violence  or  treachery,  and  the 
function  of  ruling  assumed  by  some  other  warrior.  Thus 
between  the  rudest  societies  and  some  of  the  lowest  forms 
of  animal  life,  there  is  analogy  alike  in  the  slight  extent 
to  which  organization  is  carried,  in  the  indefiniteness  of 
this  organization,  and  in  its  want  of  fixity. 

A  further  complication  of  the  analogy  is  at  hand.  From 
the  aggregation  of  units  into  organized  groups,  we  pass  to 
the  multiplication  of  such  groups,  and  their  coalescence 
into  compound  groups.  The  Hydra,  when  it  has  reached 
a  certain  bulk,  puts  forth  from  its  surface  a  bud  which, 
growing  and  gradually  assuming  the  form  of  the  parent, 
finally  becomes  detached ;  and  by  this  process  of  gem- 
mation the  creature  peoples  the  adjacent  water  with  others 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  281 

like  itself.  A  parallel  process  is  seen  in  the  multiplication 
of  tliose  lowly-organized  tribes  above  described.  When 
one  of  them  has  increased  to  a  size  that  is  either  too  gre*^  . 
for  co-ordination  under  so  rude  a  structure,  or  else  that  is 
greater  than  the  surrounding  country  can  supply  with 
game  and  other  wild  food,  there  arises  a  tendency  to 
divide ;  and  as  in  such  communities  there  often  occur 
quarrels,  jealousies,  and  other  causes  of  division,  there 
soon  comes  an  occasion  on  which  a  part  of  the  tribe  sep- 
arates under  the  leadership  of  some  subordinate  chief  and 
migrates.  This  process  being  from  time  to  time  repeated, 
an  extensive  region  is  at  length  occupied  by  numerous 
tribes  descended  from  a  common  ancestry.  The  analogy 
by  no  means  ends  here.  Though  in  the  common  Hydra 
the  young  ones  that  bud  out  from  the  parent  soon  become 
detached  and  independent ;  yet  throughout  the  rest  of  the 
class  Hydrozoa,  to  which  this  creature  belongs,  the  like 
does  not  generally  happen.  The  successive  individuals 
thus  developed  continue  attached  j  give  origin  to  other 
such  individuals  which  also  continue  attached ;  and  so 
there  results  a  compound  animal.  As  in  the  Hydra  itself 
we  find  an  aggregation  of  units  which,  considered  separ- 
ately, are  akin  to  the  lowest  Protozoa;  so  here,  in  a 
Zoophyte,  we  find  an  aggregation  of  such  aggregations. 
The  like  is  also  seen  throughout  the  extensive  family  of 
Polyzoa  or  Molluscoida.  The  Ascidian  Mollusks,  too,  in 
their  many  forms,  show  us  the  same  thing  :  exhibiting,  nt 
the  same  time,  various  degrees  of  union  among  the  com- 
ponent individuals.  For  while  in  the  Salpce  the  component 
individuals  adhere  so  slightly  that  a  blow  on  the  vessel  of 
water  in  which  they  are  floating  will  separate  them ;  in  the 
Botryllidm  there  exist  vascular  connexions  among  them, 
and  a  common  circulation.  Now  in  these  different  stages 
of  aggregation,  may  we  not  see  paralleled  the  union  of 
groups  of  connate  tribes  into  nations  ?  Though,  in  regions 
where   circumstances   permit,   the    tribes   descended    iruuj 


282  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

some  original  tribe  migrate  in  all  directions^  and  become 
far  removed  and  quite  separate  ;  yet,  where  tbe  territory 
presents  barriers  to  distant  migration,  this  does  not  happen  : 
the  small  kindred  communities  are  held  in  closer  contact, 
and  eventually  become  more  or  less  united  into  a  nation. 
The  contrast  between  the  tribes  of  American  Indians  and 
the  Scottish  clans,  illustrates  this.  And  a  glance  at  our 
own  early  history,  or  the  early  histories  of  continental 
nations,  shows  this  fusion  of  small  simple  communities 
taking  place  in  various  ways  and  to  various  extents.  As 
says  M.  Guizot,  in  his  History  of  the  Origin  of  Repre- 
sentative Government, — 

"  By  degrees,  in  the  midst  of  the  chaos  of  the  rising  society,  small  aggrega- 
tions are  formed  which  feel  the  want  of  alliance  and  union  with  each  other. 
.  .  .  Soon  inequality  of  strength  is  displayed  among  neighbouring 
aggregations.  The  strong  tend  to  subjugate  the  weak,  and  usurp  at  first  the 
rights  of  taxation  and  military  service.  Thus  political  authority  leaves  the 
aggregations  which  first  instituted  it,  to  take  a  wider  range." 

That  is  to  say,  the  small  tribes,  clans,  or  feudal  groups, 
sprung  mostly  from  a  common  stock,  and  long  held  in  con- 
tact as  occupants  of  adjacent  lands,  gradually  get  united  in 
other  ways  than  by  kinship  and  proximity. 

A  further  series  of  changes  begins  now  to  take  place, 
to  which,  as  before,  we  find  analogies  in  individual  organ- 
isms. Keturning  to  the  Ilydrozoa,  we  observe  that  in  the 
simplest  of  the  compound  forms  the  connected  individuals 
are  alike  in  structure,  and  perform  like  functions ;  with 
the  exception  that  here  and  there  a  bud,  instead  of 
developing  into  a  stomach,  mouth,  and  tentacles,  becomes 
an  egg-sac.  But  with  the  oceanic  Hydrozoa  this  is  by  no 
means  the  case.  In  the  Calycophoridai  some  of  the  polypes 
growing  from  the  common  germ,  become  developed  and 
modified  into  largo,  long,  sack -like  bodies,  which,  by  their 
rhythmical  contractions,  move  through  the  water,  dragging 
the  community  of  polypes  after  them.  In  the  Physophoridce 
a  variety  of  organs  similarly  arise  by  transformation  of  the 
budding  jDolypes ;  so  that  in  creatures  like  the  Fhysalia, 


THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM.  283 

commonly  known  as  the  "  Portuguese  Man-of-war/'  instead 
of  that  tree-like  group  of  similar  individuals  forming  the 
original  type,  we  have  a  complex  mass  of  unlike  parts 
fulfilling  unlike  duties.  As  an  individual  Hydra  may  be 
regarded  as  a  group  of  Protozoa  which  have  become  par- 
tially metamorphosed  into  different  organs  ;  so  a  Physalia 
is,  morphologically  considered,  a  group  of  Ilydrce  of  which 
the  individuals  have  been  variously  transformed  to  fit  them 
for  various  functions. 

This  differentiation  upon  differentiation  is  just  what 
takes  place  during  the  evolution  of  a  civilized  society.  We 
observed  how,  in  the  small  communities  first  formed,  there 
arises  a  simple  political  organization :  there  is  a  partial 
separation  of  classes  having  different  duties.  And  now  we 
have  to  observe  how,  in  a  nation  formed  by  the  fusion  of 
such  small  communities,  the  several  sections,  at  first  alike 
in  structures  and  modes  of  activity,  grow  unlike  in  both — 
gradually  become  mutually-dependent  parts,  diverse  in 
their  natures  and  functions. 

The  doctrine  of  the  progressive  division  of  labour,  to 
which  we  are  here  introduced,  is  familiar  to  all  readers. 
And  furthei',  the  analogy  between  the  economical  division 
of  labour  and  the  "  physiological  division  of  labour,"  is  so 
striking  as  long  since  to  have  drawn  the  attention  of 
Scientific  naturalists  :  so  striking,  indeed,  that  the  expres- 
sion "  physiological  division  of  labour,"  has  been  suggested 
by  it.  It  is  not  needful,  therefore,  to  treat  this  part  of  the 
subject  in  great  detail.  We  shall  content  ourselves  with 
ncjting  a  few  general  and  significant  facts,  not  manifest  on 
a  first  inspection. 

Throughout  the  whole  animal  kingdom,  from  the  Ccelen- 
terata  upwards,  the  first  stage  of  evolution  is  the  same. 
Equally  in  the  germ  of  a  polype  and  in  the  human  ovum, 
the  aggregated  mass  of  cells  out  of  which  the  creature  is  to 
arise,  gives  origin  to  a  peripheral  layer  of  cells,  slightly 


284  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

differing  from  tlie  rest  Trhich  they  include;  and  tliis  layer 
subsequently  divides  into  two — the  inner^  ^J^^g  iii  contact 
with  the  included  yelk,  being  called  the  mucous  layer,  and 
the  outer,  exposed  to  surrounding  agencies,  being  called  the 
serous  layer :  or,  in  the  terms  used  by  Prof.  Huxley,  in 
describing  the  development  of  the  Hydrozoa — the  endoderra 
and  ectoderm.  This  primary  division  marks  out  a  funda- 
mental contrast  of  parts  in  the  future  organism.  From  the 
mucous  layer,  or  endoderm,  is  developed  tlie  apparatus  of 
nuti'ition ;  while  from  the  serous  layer,  or  ectoderm,  is 
developed  the  apparatus  of  external  action.  Out  of  the 
one  arise  the  organs  by  which  food  is  prepared  and 
absorbed,  oxygen  imbibed,  and  blood  purified ;  while  out 
of  the  other  arise  the  nervous,  muscular,  and  osseous 
systems,  by  the  combined  actions  of  which  the  movements 
of  the  body  as  a  Avhole  are  effected.  Though  this  is  not  a 
rigorously-correct  distinction,  seeing  that  some  organs 
involve  both  of  these  primitive  membranes,  yet  high 
authorities  agree  in  stating  it  as  a  broad  general  distinc- 
tion. Well,  in  the  evolution  of  a  society,  we  see  a  primary 
differentiation  of  analogous  kind,  which  similarly  underlies 
the  whole  future  structure.  As  already  pointed  out,  the 
only  manifest  contrast  of  parts  in  primitive  societies,  is 
that  between  the  governing  and  the  governed.  In  the 
least  organized  tribes,  the  council  of  chiefs  may  be  a 
body  of  men  distinguished  simply  by  greater  courage  or 
experience.  In  more  organized  tribes,  the  chief-class  is 
definitely  separated  from  the  lower  class,  and  often  regarded 
as  different  in  nature — sometimes  as  god-descended.  And 
later,  we  find  these  two  becoming  respectively  freemen  and 
slaves,  or  nobles  and  serfs.  A  glance  at  their  respective 
functions,  makes  it  obvious  that  the  great  divisions  thus 
early  formed,  stand  to  each  other  in  a  relation  similar  to 
that  in  which  the  primary  divisions  of  the  embryo  stand  to 
each  other.  For,  from  its  first  appearance,  the  warrior- 
class,  headed  by  chiefs,  is  that  by  which  the  external  acta 


THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM.  285 

of  tlie  society  are  carried  on  :  alike  in  war,  in  negotiation, 
and  in  migration.  Afterwards,  while  this  upper  class  grows 
distinct  from  the  lower,  and  at  the  same  time  becomes 
Tiiore  and  more  exclusively  regulative  and  defensive  in  its 
functions,  alike  in  the  persons  of  kings  and  subordinate 
rulers,  priests,  and  soldiers ;  the  inferior  class  becomea 
more  and  more  exclusively  occupied  in  providing  the  neces- 
saries of  life  for  the  community  at  large.  From  the  soil, 
with  which  it  comes  in  most  direct  contact,  the  mass  of  the 
people  takes  up,  and  prepai'es  for  use,  the  food  and  such 
rude  articles  of  manufacture  as  are  known ;  while  the 
overlying  mass  of  superior  men,  maintained  by  the 
working  population,  deals  with  circumstances  external  to 
the  community — circumstances  with  which,  by  position, 
it  is  more  immediately  concerned.  Ceasing  by-and-by  to 
have  any  knowledge  of,  or  power  over,  the  concerns  of  the 
society  as  a  whole,  the  serf-class  becomes  devoted  to  the 
processes  of  alimentation  ;  while  the  noble  class,  ceasing 
to  take  any  part  in  the  processes  of  alimentation,  becomes 
devoted  to  the  co-ordinated  movements  of  the  entire 
body-politic. 

Equally  remarkable  is  a  further  analogy  of  like  kind. 
After  the  mucous  and  serous  layers  of  the  embryo  have 
separated,  there  presently  arises  between  the  two  a  third, 
known  to  physiologists  as  the  vascular  layer — a  layer  out  of 
which  are  developed  the  chief  blood-vessels.  The  mucous 
layer  absorbs  nutriment  from  the  mass  of  yelk  it  encloses  ; 
this  nutriment  has  to  be  transferred  to  the  overlying  serous 
layer,  out  of  which  the  nervo-muscular  system  is  being 
devt-loped  ;  and  between  the  two  arises  a  vascular  system 
by  which  the  transfer  is  effected — a  system  of  vessels  which 
continues  ever  after  to  be  the  transferrer  of  nutriment 
from  the  places  where  it  is  absorbed  and  prepared,  to  the 
places  where  it  is  needed  for  growth  and  repair.  Well, 
may  we  not  trace  a  parallel  step  in  social  progress  ? 
Between  the  governing  and  the  governed,  there  at  firsi 


286  THE  SOCIAL  organism. 

exists  no  intermediate  class ;  and  even  in  some  societies 
that  have  reached  considerable  sizes,  there  are  scarcely  any 
but  the  nobles  and  their  kindred  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
serfs  on  the  other  :  the  social  structure  being  such  that 
transfer  of  commodities  takes  place  directly  from  slaves 
to  their  masters.  But  in  societies  of  a  higher  type,  there 
grows  up,  between  these  two  primitive  classes,  another — 
the  trading  or  middle  class.  Equally  at  first  as  now,  we 
may  see  that,  speaking  generally,  this  middle  class  is  the 
analogue  of  the  middle  layer  in  the  embryo.  For  all 
traders  are  essentially  distributors.  Whether  they  be 
wholesale  dealers,  who  collect  into  large  masses  the  com- 
modities of  various  producers  ;  or  whether  they  be  retailers, 
who  divide  out  to  those  who  want  them,  the  masses  of 
commodities  thus  collected  together ;  all  mercantile  men 
are  agents  of  transfer  from  the  places  where  things  are 
produced  to  the  places  where  they  are  consumed.  Thus 
the  distributing  apparatus  in  a  society,  answers  to  the 
distributing  apparatus  in  a  living  body;  not  only  in  its 
functions,  but  in  its  intermediate  origin  and  subsequent 
position,  and  in  the  time  of  its  appearance. 

Without  enumerating  the  minor  differentiations  which 
these  three  great  classes  afterwards  undergo,  we  will  merely 
note  that  throughout,  they  follow  the  same  general  lawr  with 
the  differentiations  of  an  individual  organism.  In  a  society, 
as  in  a  rudimentary  animal,  we  have  seen  that  the  most 
general  and  broadly  contrasted  divisions  are  the  first  to 
make  their  appearance  ;  and  of  the  subdivisions  it  con- 
tinues true  in  both  cases,  that  they  arise  in  the  order  of 
decreasing  generality. 

Let  us  observe,  next,  that  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other, 
the  specializations  are  at  first  very  incomplete,  and  approach 
completeness  as  organization  progresses.  We  saw  that  in 
primitive  tribes,  as  in  the  simplest  animals,  there  remains 
much  community  of  function  between  the  parts  which  are 
nominally  different — that,  for  instance,  the  class  of  chiefs 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  287 

long  remains  industrially  the  same  as  the  inferior  class; 
just  as  in  a  Hi/dra,  the  property  of  contractility  is  possessed 
by  the  units  of  the  endoderm  as  well  as  by  those  of  the 
ectoderm.  We  noted  also  how,  as  the  society  advanced, 
the  two  great  primitive  classes  partook  less  and  less  of 
each  other's  functions.  And  we  have  here  to  remark 
that  all  subsequent  specializations  are  at  first  vague 
and  gradually  become  distinct.  "  In  the  infancy  of 
society,"  says  M.  Guizot,  "  everything  is  confused  and 
uncertain  ;  there  is  as  yet  no  fixed  and  precise  line  of 
demarcation  between  the  different  powers  in  a  state.'' 
*' Originally  kings  lived  like  other  landowners,  on  the 
incomes  derived  from  their  own  private  estates."  Nobles 
were  petty  kings  ;  and  kings  only  the  most  powerful 
nobles.  Bishops  were  feudal  lords  and  military  leaders.  The 
right  of  coining  money  was  possessed  by  powerful  subjects, 
and  by  the  Church,  as  well  as  by  the  king.  Every  leading 
man  exercised  alike  the  functions  of  landowner,  farmer, 
soldier,  statesman,  judge.  Retainers  were  now  soldiers, 
and  now  labourers,  as  the  day  required.  But  by  degrees 
the  Church  has  lost  all  civil  jurisdiction;  the  State  has 
exercised  less  and  less  control  over  religious  teaching ;  the 
military  class  has  grown  a  distinct  one;  handicrafts  have 
concentrated  in  towns;  and  the  spinning-wheels  of  scattered 
farmhouses,  have  disappeared  before  the  machinery  of 
manufacturing  districts.  Not  only  is  all  progress  from  the 
homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
it  is  from  the  indefinite  to  the  definite. 

Another  fact  which  should  not  be  passed  over,  is  that  in 
the  evolution  of  a  large  society  out  of  a  cluster  of  small 
ones,  there  is  a  gradual  obliteration  of  the  original  lines  of 
separation — a  change  to  which,  also,  we  may  see  analogies 
in  living  bodies.  The  sub-kingdom  Annulosa,  furnishes 
good  illustrations.  Among  the  lower  types  the  body  con- 
sists of  numerous  segments  that  are  alike  in  nearly  every 
particular.      Each  has  its  external  ring ;  its  pair  of  legs. 


288  THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM. 

if  the  creature  lias  legs;  its  equal  portion  of  intestiiie,  or 
else  its  separate  stomacli;  its  equal  portion  of  the  great 
blood-vessel,  or,  in  some  cases,  its  separate  heart;  its 
equal  portion  of  the  nervous  cord ;  and,  perhaps,  its  separate 
pair  of  ganglia.  But  in  the  highest  types,  as  in  the  large 
Crustacea,  many  of  the  segments  are  completely  fused 
together ;  and  the  internal  organs  are  no  longer  uniformly 
repeated  in  all  the  segments.  Now  the  segments  of  which 
nations  at  first  consist,  lose  their  separate  external  and 
internal  structures  in  a  similar  manner.  In  feudal  times 
the  minor  communities,  governed  by  feudal  lords,  were 
severally  organized  in  the  same  rude  way,  and  were  held 
together  only  by  the  fealty  of  their  respective  rulers  to  a 
suzerain.  But  along  with  the  growth  of  a  central  powe)', 
the  demarcations  of  these  local  communities  become 
relatively  unimportant,  and  their  separate  organizations 
merge  into  the  general  organization.  The  like  is  seen  on  a 
larger  scale  in  the  fusion  of  England,  Wales,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland  ;  and,  on  the  Continent,  in  the  coalescence  of 
provinces  into  kingdoms.  Even  in  the  disappearance  of 
law-made  divisions,  the  process  is  analogous.  Among 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  England  was  divided  into  tithings, 
hundreds,  and  counties  :  there  were  county-courts,  courts 
of  hundred,  and  courts  of  tithing.  The  courts  of  tithing 
disappeared  first;  then  the  courts  of  hundred,  which  have, 
however,  left  traces;  while  the  county-jurisdiction  still 
exists.  Chiefly,  however,  it  is  to  be  noted,  that  there 
eventually  grows  up  an  organization  which  has  no  reference 
to  these  original  divisions,  but  traverses  them  in  various 
directions,  as  is  the  case  in  creatures  belonging  to  the 
sub-kingdom  just  named  ;  and,  further,  that  m  both  cases 
it  is  the  sustaining  organization  which  thus  traverses  old 
boundaries,  while,  in  both  cases,  it  is  the  governmental,  or 
co-ordinating  organization  in  which  the  original  boundaries 
continue  traceable.  Thus,  in  the  highest  Annulosa  the 
exo-skeleton  and  the  muscular  system  never  lose  all  traces 


THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISjM.  289 

of  their  primitive  segmentation;  but  tlirongliout  a  great 
part  of  the  body,  the  contained  viscera  do  not  in  the  least 
conform  to  the  external  divisions.  Similarly  with  a 
nation  we  see  that  while,  for  governmental  purposes,  such 
divisions  as  counties  and  parishes  still  exist,  the  structure 
developed  for  carrying  on  the  nutrition  of  society  wholly 
ignores  these  boundaries :  our  great  cotton-manufacture 
spreads  out  of  Lancashire  into  North  Derbyshire ; 
Leicestershire  and  Nottinghamshire  have  long  divided 
the  stocking-trade  between  them;  one  great  centre  for 
the  production  of  iron  and  iron-goods,  includes  parts  of 
Warwickshire,  Staffordshire,  and  Worcestershire ;  and 
those  various  specializations  of  agricultui-e  which  have 
made  different  parts  of  England  noted  for  different 
products,  show  no  more  respect  to  county-boundaries  than 
do  our  growing  towns  to  the  boundaries  of  parishes. 

If,  after  contemplating  these  analogies  of  structure,  we 
inquire  whether  there  are  any  such  analogies  between  the 
processes  of  organic  change,  the  answer  is — yes.  The 
causes  which  lead  to  increase  of  bulk  in  any  part  of  the 
body-politic,  are  of  like  nature  with  those  which  lead  to 
increase  of  bulk  in  any  part  of  an  individual  body.  In 
both  cases  the  antecedent  is  greater  functional  activity 
consequent  on  greater  demand.  Each  limb,  viscus,  gland, 
or  other  member  of  an  animal,  is  developed  by  exercise — 
by  actively  discharging  the  duties  which  the  body  at  large 
requires  of  it ;  and  similarly,  any  class  of  labourers  or 
artisans,  any  manufacturing  centre,  or  any  official  agency, 
begins  to  enlarge  when  the  community  devolves  on  it  more 
work.  In  each  case,  too,  growth  has  its  conditions  and  its 
limits.  That  any  organ  in  a  living  being  may  grow  by 
exercise,  there  needs  a  due  supply  of  blood.  All  action 
implies  waste ;  blood  brings  the  materials  for  repair ;  and 
before  there  can  be  growth,  the  quantity  of  blood  supplied 
must  be  more  than  is  requisite  for  repair.  In  a  society 
it  is  the  same.     If  to  some  district  which  elaborates  for 


290  THE    SOCIAL    OEGAMhJtt. 

the  community  particular  commodities — say  the  woolleng 
of  Yorkshire — there  comes  an  augmented  demand  ;  and  if, 
in  fulfilment  of  this  demand,  a  certain  expenditure  and 
wear  of  the  manufacturing  organization  are  incurred ;  and 
if,  in  payment  for  the  extra  quantity  of  woollens  sent  away, 
there  comes  back  only  such  quantity  of  commodities  as 
replaces  the  expenditure,  and  makes  good  the  waste  of  life 
and  machinery;  there  can  clearly  be  no  growth.  That 
there  may  be  growth,  the  commodities  obtained  in  return 
must  be  more  than  sufficient  for  these  ends ;  and  just  in 
proportion  as  the  surplus  is  great  will  the  growth  be  rapid. 
Whence  it  is  manifest  that  what  in  commercial  affairs  we 
call  'profit,  answers  to  the  excess  of  nutrition  over  waste 
in  a  living  body.  Moreover,  in  both  cases  when  the 
functional  activity  is  high  and  the  nutrition  defective, 
there  results  not  growth  but  decay.  If  in  an  animal, 
any  organ  is  worked  so  hard  that  the  channels  which 
bring  blood  cannot  furnish  enough  for  repair,  the  organ 
dwindles  :  atrophy  is  set  up.  And  if  in  the  body-politic, 
some  part  has  been  stimulated  into  great  productivity, 
and  cannot  afterwards  get  paid  for  all  its  produce,  certain 
of  its  members  become  bankrupt,  and  it  decreases  in  size. 
One  more  parallelism  to  be  here  noted,  is  that  the 
different  parts  of  a  social  organism,  like  the  different  parts 
of  an  individual  organism,  compete  for  nutriment ;  and 
severally  obtain  more  or  less  of  it  according  as  they  are 
discharging  more  or  less  duty.  If  a  man's  brain  be  over- 
excited it  abstracts  blood  from  his  viscera  and  stops 
digestion ;  or  digestion,  actively  going  on,  so  affects  the 
circulation  through  the  brain  as  to  cause  drowsiness ;  or 
great  muscular  exertion  determines  such  a  quantity  of 
blood  to  the  limbs  as  to  arrest  digestion  or  cerebral 
action,  as  the  case  may  be.  So,  likewise,  in  a  society, 
great  activity  in  some  one  direction  causes  palatial  arrests 
of  activity  elsewhere  by  abstracting  capital,  that  is 
commodities :      as      instance     the      way     in      which     the 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  291 

sudden  development  of  our  railway-system  hampered 
commercial  operations  ;  or  the  way  in  which  the  raising 
of  a  large  military  force  temporarily  stops  the  growth  of 
leading  industries. 

The  last  few  paragraphs  introduce  the  next  division  of 
our  subject.  Almost  unawares  we  have  come  upon  tho 
analogy  which  exists  between  the  blood  of  a  living  body 
and  the  circulating  mass  of  commodities  in  the  body-politic. 
We  have  now  to  trace  out  this  analogy  from  its  simplest 
to  its  most  complex  manifestations. 

In  the  lowest  animals  there  exists  no  blood  properly  so 
called.  Through  the  small  assemblage  of  cells  which  make 
up  a  Hydra,  permeate  the  juices  absorbed  from  the  food. 
There  is  no  apparatus  for  elaborating  a  concentrated  and 
purified  nutriment,  and  distributing  it  among  the  compo- 
nent units;  but  these  component  units  directly  iubibe  the 
unprepared  nutriment,  either  from  the  digestive  cavity  or 
from  one  another.  May  we  not  say  that  this  is  what  takes 
place  in  an  aboriginal  tribe  ?  All  its  members  severally 
obtain  for  themselves  the  necessaries  of  life  in  their  crude 
states ;  and  severally  prepare  them  for  their  own  uses  as  well 
as  they  can.  When  there  arises  a  decided  diiferentiation 
between  the  governing  and  the  governed,  some  amount  of 
transfer  begins  between  those  inferior  individuals  who,  as 
workers,  come  directly  in  contact  with  the  products  of  the 
earth,  and  those  superior  ones  who  exercise  the  higher 
functions — a  transfer  parallel  to  that  which  accompanies 
the  diiferentiation  of  the  ectoderm  from  the  endoderm.  In 
the  one  case,  as  in  the  other,  however,  it  is  a  transfer  of 
products  that  are  little  if  at  all  prepared ;  and  takes  place 
directly  from  the  unit  which  obtains  to  the  unit  which 
consumes,  without  entering  into  any  general  current. 

Passing  to  larger  organisms — individual  and  social — we 
meet  the  first  advance  on  tliis  arrangement.  Where,  as 
among  the  compound  Hi/drozoa,  there  is  a  union  of  many 


292  THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM. 

such  primitive  groups  as  form  Hydra' ;  or  wtere,  as  in 
a  Medusa,  one  of  these  groups  has  become  of  great  size ; 
there  exist  rude  channels  running  throughout  the  substance 
of  the  body :  not^  however,  channels  for  the  conveyance  of 
prepared  nutriment,  but  mere  prolongations  of  the  digestive 
cavity,  through  which  the  crude  chyle-aqueous  fluid  reaches 
the  remoter  parts,  and  is  moved  backwards  and  forwards 
by  the  creature's  contractions.  Do  we  not  find  in  some  of 
the  more  advanced  primitive  communities  an  analogous 
condition  ?  When  the  men,  partially  or  fully  united  into 
one  society,  become  numerous — when,  as  usually  happens, 
they  cover  a  surface  of  country  not  everywhere  alike  in  its 
products — when,  more  especially,  there  arise  considerable 
classes  which  are  not  industrial;  some  process  of  exchange 
and  distribution  inevitably  arises.  Traversing  here  and 
there  the  earth's  surface,  covered  by  that  vegetation  on 
which  human  life  depends,  and  in  which,  as  we  say,  the 
units  of  a  society  are  imbedded,  there  are  formed  indefinite 
paths,  along  which  some  of  the  necessaries  of  life  occa- 
sionally pass,  to  be  bartered  for  others  which  presently 
come  back  along  the  same  channels.  Note,  however,  that 
at  first  little  else  but  crude  commodities  are  thus  trans- 
ferred— fruits,  fish,  pigs  or  cattle,  skins,  etc. :  there  are 
few,  if  any,  manufactured  products  or  articles  prepared  for 
consumption.  And  note  also,  that  such  distribution  of 
these  unprepared  necessaries  of  life  as  takes  place,  is  but 
occasional — goes  on  with  a  certain  slow,  irregular  rhythm. 
Further  progress  in  the  elaboration  and  distribution  of 
nutriment,  or  of  commodities,  is  a  necessary  accompani- 
ment of  further  differentiation  of  functions  in  the  individual 
body  or  in  the  body-politic.  As  fast  as  each  organ  of  a 
living  animal  becomes  confined  to  a  special  action,  it  must 
become  dependent  on  the  rest  for  those  materials  which  its 
position  and  duty  do  not  permit  it  to  obtain  for  itself;  in 
the  same  way  that,  as  fast  as  each  particular  class  of  a 
community  becomes  exclusively  occupied  in  producing  its 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  293 

own  commodity,  it  must  become  dependent  on  tlie  rest  for 
the  other  commodities  it  needs.     And,   simultaneously,  a 
more  perfectly-elaborated  blood  will  result  from  a  highly 
specialized  group  of  nutritive  organs,  severally  adapted  to 
prepare  its  different  elements;  in  the  same  way  that  tho 
stream  of  commodities   circulating   throughout   a   society, 
will  be   of  superior   quality  in  proportion   to   the  greater 
division  of  labour  among  the  workers.      Observe,  also,  that 
in  either  case  the  circulating  mass  of  nutritive  materials, 
besides  coming  gradually  to  consist  of  better  ingredients, 
also  grows  more  complex.     An  increase  in  the  number  of 
the  unlike  organs    which    add    to    the    blood  their  waste 
matters,  and  demand  from  it  the  different  materials  they 
severally  need,  implies  a  blood  more  heterogeneous  in  com- 
position— an   a  priori  conclusion  which,  according  to  Dr. 
Williams,  is  inductively  confirmed  by  examination    of    the 
blood  throughout  the  various  grades  of  the  animal  kingdom. 
And  similarly,  it  is  manifest  that  as  fast  as  the  division  of 
labour  among  the  classes  of  a  community  becomes  greater, 
there  must  be  an  increasing  heterogeneity  in  the  currents  of 
merchandize  flowing  throughout  that  community. 

The  circulating  mass  of  nutritive  materials  in  individual 
organisms  and  in  social  organisms,  becoming  at  once  better 
in  the  quality  of  its  ingredients  and  more  heterogeneous 
in  composition,  as  the  type  of  structure  becomes  higher, 
eventually  has  added  to  it  in  both  cases  another  element, 
which  is  not  itself  nutritive  but  facilitates  the  processes  of 
nutrition.  We  refer,  in  the  case  of  the  individual  organ- 
ism, to  the  blood-discs ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  social 
organism,  to  money.  This  analogy  has  been  observed 
by  Liebig,  who  in  his  Familiar  Letters  oil  Chtuiixtnj 
says: — 

"  Silver  and  gold  have  to  perform  in  the  organism  of  the  state,  the 
same  function  as  the  blood-corpuscles  in  the  human  organism.  As  these 
round  discs,  without  themselves  tn.':ing  an  immediate  share  in  the  nutritive 
process,  are  the  medium,  the  essential  condition  of  the  change  of  matter,  of 
the  production  of  the  heat  and  of  ilie  force  by  which  the  temperature  of  the 


294  THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM. 

body  is  kept  up,  and  the  motions  of  the  blood  and  all  the  juices  are  deter- 
mined, so  has  gold  become  the  medium  of  all  activity  in  the  life  of  the  state." 

And  blood-corpuscles  being  like  coin  in  their  functions, 
and  in  the  fact  that  they  are  not  consumed  in  nutrition,  ho 
further  points  out  tliat  tlie  number  of  them  which  in  a 
considerable  interval  flows  through  the  great  centres,  is 
enormous  when  compared  with  their  absolute  number ; 
just  as  the  quantity  of  money  which  annually  passes 
through  the  great  mercantile  centres,  is  enormous  when 
compared  with  the  quantity  of  money  in  the  kingdom. 
Nor  is  this  all.  Liebig  has  omitted  the  significant  circum- 
stance that  only  at  a  certain  stage  of  organization  does 
this  element  of  the  circulation  make  its  appearance. 
Throughout  extensive  divisions  of  the  lower  animals,  the 
blood  contains  no  corpuscles;  and  in  societies  of  low 
civilization,  there  is  no  money. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  analogy  between  the 
blood  in  a  living  body  and  the  consumable  and  circulating 
commodities  in  the  body-politic.  Let  us  now  compare  the 
appliances  by  which  they  are  respectively  distributed. 
We  shall  find  in  the  developments  of  these  appliances 
parallelisms  not  less  remarkable  than  those  above  set  forth. 
Already  we  have  shown  that,  as  classes,  wholesale  and 
retail  distributors  discharge  in  a  society  the  office  which 
the  vascular  system  discharges  in  an  individual  creature ; 
that  they  come  into  existence  later  than  the  other  two 
great  classes,  as  the  vascular  layer  appears  later  than  the 
mucous  and  serous  layers;  and  that  they  occupy  a  like 
intermediate  position.  Here,  however,  it  remains  to  be 
pointed  out  that  a  complete  conception  of  the  circulating 
system  in  a  society,  includes  not  only  the  active  human 
agents  who  propel  the  currents  of  commodities,  and  regu- 
late their  distribution,  but  includes,  also,  the  channels  of 
communication.  It  is  the  formation  and  arrangement  of 
these  to  which  we  now  direct  attention. 

Going  back  once  more  to  those  lower  animals  in  which 
there  is  found  nothing  but  a  partial  diffusion,  not  of  blood. 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  295 

but  only  of  crude  nutritive  fluids,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that 
the  channels  tlirougli  whicli  the  diffusion  takes  place,  are 
mere  excavations  tlirougli  the  half-organized  substance  of 
tlie  body :  they  have  no  lining  membranes,  but  are  mere 
lacunce  traversing  a  rude  tissue.  Now  countries  in  which 
civilization  is  but  commencing,  display  a  like  condition  : 
there  are  no  roads  properly  so  called ;  but  the  wilderness 
of  vegetal  life  covering  the  eai-th's  surface  is  pierced  by 
tracks,  through  which  the  distribution  of  crude  commo- 
dities takes  place.  And  while,  in  both  cases,  the  acts  of 
distribution  occur  only  at  long  intervals  (the  currents, 
after  a  pause,  now  setting  towards  a  general  centre  and 
now  away  from  it),  the  transfer  is  in  both  cases  slow  and 
diflicult.  But  among  other  accompaniments  of  progress, 
common  to  animals  and  societies,  comes  the  formation 
of  more  definite  and  complete  channels  of  communication. 
Blood-vessels  acquire  distinct  walls ;  roads  are  fenced 
and  gravelled.  This  advance  is  fii-st  seen  in  those 
roads  or  vessels  that  are  nearest  to  the  chief  centres 
of  distribution ;  while  the  peripheral  roads  and  peripheral 
vessels  long  continue  in  their  primitive  states.  At  a  yet 
later  stage  of  development,  where  comparative  finish  of 
structure  is  found  throughout  the  system  as  well  as  near 
the  chief  centres,  there  remains  in  both  cases  the  difference 
that  the  main  channels  are  comparatively  broad  and 
straight,  while  the  subordinate  ones  are  narrow  and 
tortuous  in  proportion  to  their  remoteness.  Lastly,  it  is 
to  be  remarked  that  there  ultimately  arise  in  the  higher 
social  organisms,  as  in  the  higher  individual  organisms, 
main  channels  of  distribution  still  more  distinguished  by 
their  perfect  structures,  their  comparative  straightness, 
and  the  absence  of  those  small  branches  which  the  minor 
channels  perpetually  give  off.  And/ in  railways  we  also 
see,  for  the  first  time  in  the  social  organism,  a  system  of 
double  channels  conveying  currents  in  opposite  directions, 

as  do  the  arteries  and  veins  of  a  well-developed  animal. 
20 


296  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

These  parallelisms  in  the  evolutions  and  structures  of  the 
circulating  systems^  introduce  us  to  others  in  the  kinds  and 
rates  of  the  movements  going  on  through  them.  Through 
the  lowest  societies,  as  through  the  lowest  creatures,  the 
distribution  of  crude  nutriment  is  by  slow  gurgitations 
and  regurgitations.  In  creatures  that  have  rude  vascular 
systems,  just  as  in  societies  that  are  beginning  to  have 
roads,  there  is  no  regular  circulation  along  definite  courses ; 
but,  instead,  periodical  changes  of  the  currents  —  now 
towards  this  point  and  now  towards  that.  Through  each 
part  of  an  inferior  raollusk's  body,  the  blood  flows  for  a 
while  in  one  direction,  then  stops  and  flows  in  the  opposite 
direction ;  just  as  through  a  rudely-organized  society, 
the  distribution  of  merchandize  is  slowly  carried  on  by 
great  fairs,  occurring  in  difl'erent  localities,  to  and  from 
which  the  currents  periodically  set.  Only  animals  of  tol- 
erably complete  organizations,  like  advanced  communities, 
are  permeated  by  constant  currents  that  are  definitely 
directed.  In  living  bodies,  the  local  and  variable  currents 
disappear  when  there  grow  up  great  centres  of  circulation, 
generating  more  powerful  currents  by  a  rhythm  which 
ends  in  a  quick,  regular  pulsation.  And  when  in  social 
bodies  there  arise  great  centres  of  commercial  activity, 
producing  and  exchanging  large  quantities  of  commodities, 
the  rapid  and  continuous  streams  drawn  in  and  emitted  by 
these  centres  subdue  all  minor  and  local  circulations  :  the 
slow  rhythm  of  fairs  merges  into  the  faster  one  of  weekly 
markets,  and  in  the  chief  centres  of  distribution,  weekly 
markets  merge  into  daily  markets  ;  while  in  place  of  the 
languid  transfer  from  place  to  place,  taking  place  at  first 
weekly,  then  twice  or  thrice  a  week,  we  by-and-by  get 
daily  transfer,  and  finally  transfer  many  times  a  day — the 
original  sluggish,  irregular  rhythm,  becomes  a  rapid, 
equable  pulse,  Mark,  too,  that  in  both  cases  the  increased 
activity,  like  the  greater  perfection  of  structure,  is  much  less 
conspicuous  at  the  periphery  of  the  vascular  system.     On 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  297 

main  lines  of  railway,  we  liave,  perhaps,  a  score  trains  in 
each  direction  daily,  going-  at  from  thirty  to  fifty  miles  an 
hour ;  as,  through  the  great  arteries,  the  blood  moves 
rapidly  in  successive  gushes.  Along  high  roads,  there  go 
vehicles  conveying  men  and  commodities  with  much  less, 
though  still  considerable,  speed,  and  with  a  much  less 
decided  rhythm  ;  as,  in  the  smaller  arteries,  the  speed  of  the 
blood  is  greatly  diminished  and  the  pulse  less  conspicuous. 
In  parish-roads,  narrower,  less  complete,  and  more  tortuous, 
the  rate  of  movement  is  further  decreased  and  the  rhythm 
scarcely  traceable ;  as  in  the  ultimate  arteries.  In  those 
still  more  imperfect  by-roads  which  lead  from  these  parish- 
roads  to  scattered  farmhouses  and  cottages,  the  motion  is 
yet  slower  and  very  irregular ;  just  as  we  find  it  in  the 
capillaries.  While  along  the  field-roads,  which,  in  their 
unformed,  unfenced  state,  are  t^'pical  of  lactince,  the  move- 
ment is  the  slowest,  the  most  irregular,  and  the  most  infre- 
quent ;  as  it  is,  not  only  in  the  primitive  lacunce  of  animals 
and  societies,  but  as  it  is  also  in  those  lacunce  in  which 
the  vascular  system  ends  among  extensive  families  of 
inferior  creatures. 

Thus,  then,  we  find  between  the  distributing  systems  of 
living  bodies  and  the  distributing  systems  of  bodies-politic, 
wonderfully  close  parallelisms.  In  the  lowest  forms  of  indi- 
vidual and  social  organisms,  there  exist  neither  prepared 
nutritive  matters  nor  distributing  appliances;  and  in  both, 
these,  arising  as  necessary  accompaniments  of  the  differen- 
tiation of  parts,  approach  perfection  as  this  differentiation 
approaches  completeness.  In  animals,  as  in  societies,  the 
distributing  agencies  begin  to  show  themselves  at  the  same 
reLitive  periods,  and  in  the  same  relative  positions.  In  the 
one,  as  in  the  other,  the  nutritive  materials  circulated  are  at 
first  crude  and  simple,  gradually  become  better  elaborated 
and  more  heterogeneous,  and  have  eventually  added  to  them 
a  new  element  facilitating  the  nutritive  processes.  The 
channels  of  communication  pass  through  similar  phases  of 


298  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

development,  wliicH  bi-ing  them  to  analogous  forms.  And 
the  directions,  rhythms,  and  rates  of  circulation,  progress 
by  like  steps  to  like  final  conditions. 

We  come  at  length  to  the  nervous  system.  Having 
noticed  the  primary  differentiation  of  societies  into  tlie 
governing  and  governed  classes,  and  observed  its  analogy 
to  the  differentiation  of  the  two  primary  tissues  which 
respectively  develop  into  organs  of  external  action  and 
organs  of  alimentation;  having  noticed  some  of  the  leading 
analogies  between  the  development  of  industrial  arrange- 
ments and  that  of  the  alimentary  apparatus ;  and  having, 
above,  more  fully  traced  the  analogies  between  the 
distributing  systems,  social  and  individual;  we  have  now  to 
compare  the  appliances  by  which  a  society,  as  a  whole,  is 
regulated,  with  those  by  which  the  movements  of  an 
individual  creature  are  regulated.  We  shall  find  here 
parallelisms  equally  striking  with  those  already  detailed. 

The  class  out  of  which  governmental  organization  origi- 
nates, is,  as  we  have  said,  analogous  in  its  relations  to  the 
ectoderm  of  the  lowest  animals  and  of  embryonic  forms. 
And  as  this  primitive  membrane,  out  of  which  the 
nerve-muscular  system  is  evolved,  must,  even  in  the  first 
stage  of  its  differentiation,  be  slightl}^  distinguished  from 
the  rest  by  that  greater  impressibility  and  contractility 
characterizing  the  organs  to  which  it  gives  rise ;  so,  in  that 
superior  class  which  is  eventually  transformed  into  the 
directo-executive  system  of  a  society  (its  legislative  and 
defensive  appliances),  does  there  exist  in  the  beginning,  a 
larger  endowment  of  the  capacities  required  for  these 
higher  social  functions.  Always,  in  rude  assemblages  of 
men,  the  strongest,  most  courageous,  and  most  sagacious, 
become  rulers  and  leaders  ;  and,  in  a  tribe  of  some  standing, 
this  results  in  the  establishment  of  a  dominant  class, 
characterized  on  the  average  by  those  mental  and  bodily 
qualities    which   fit    them   for   deliberation    and   vigorous 


TUE  SOCIAL  orvGAxisjr.  299 

combined  action.  Thus  that  greater  impressibility  and 
contractility,  which  in  the  rudest  animal  types  characterize 
the  units  of  the  ectoderm,  characterize  also  the  units  of  the 
primitive  social  stratum  which  controls  and  fights ;  since 
impressibility  and  contractility  are  the  respective  roots  of 
intelligence  and  strength. 

Again,  in  the  unmodified  ectoderm,  as  we  see  it  in  the 
Hydra,  the  units  are  all  endowed  both  with  impressibility 
and  contractility ;  but  as  we  ascend  to  higher  types  of 
organization,  the  ectoderm  differentiates  into  classes  of  units 
wdiich  divide  those  two  functions  between  them :  some, 
becoming  exclusively  impressible,  cease  to  be  contractile ; 
while  some,  becoming  exclusively  contractile,  cease  to  be 
impressible.  Similarly  with  societies.  In  an  aboriginal 
tribe,  the  directive  and  executive  functions  are  diffused  in 
a  mingled  form  throughout  the  whole  governing-  class. 
Each  minor  chief  commands  those  under  him,  and,  if  need 
be,  himself  coerces  them  into  obedience.  The  council  of 
chiefs  itself  carries  out  on  the  battle-field  its  own  decisions. 
The  head  chief  not  only  makes  laws,  but  administers  justice 
with  his  own  hands.  In  larger  and  more  settled  communi- 
ties, however,  the  directive  and  executive  agencies  begin  to 
grow  distinct  from  each  other.  As  fast  as  his  duties 
accumulate,  the  head  chief  or  king  confines  himself  more 
and  more  to  directing  public  affairs,  and  leaves  the  execution 
of  his  will  to  others  :  he  deputes  others  to  enforce 
submission,  to  inflict  punishments,  or  to  carry  out  minor 
acts  of  offence  and  defence;  and  only  on  occasions  when, 
perhaps,  the  safety  of  the  society  and  his  own  supremacy 
are  at  stake,  does  ho  begin  to  act  as  well  as  direct.  As  this 
differentiation  establishes  itself,  the  characteristics  of  the 
ruler  begin  to  change.  No  longer,  as  in  an  aboriginal  tribe, 
the  strongest  and  most  daring  man,  the  tendency  is  for  him 
to  become  the  man  of  greatest  cunning,  foresight,  and  skill 
in  the  management  of  others ;  for  in  societies  that  have 
advanced  beyond  the  first  stage,  it  is  chiefly  such  qualities 


000  THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM. 

that  insure  success  in  gaining  supreme  power,  and  holding 
it  against  internal  and  external  enemies.  Thus  that  mem- 
ber of  the  governing  class  who  comes  to  be  the  chief 
directing  agent,  and  so  plays  the  same  part  that  a  rudimen- 
tary nervous  centre  does  in  an  unfolding  organism,  is  usually 
one  endowed  with  some  superiorities  of  nervous  organization. 

In  those  larger  and  more  complex  communities  possessing, 
perhaps,  a  separate  military  class,  a  priesthood,  and  dis- 
persed masses  of  population  requiring  local  control,  there 
grow  up  subordinate  governing  agents ;  who,  as  their  duties 
accumulate,  severally  become  more  directive  and  less 
executive  in  their  characters.  And  when,  as  commonly 
happens,  the  king  begins  to  collect  round  himself  advisers 
who  aid  him  by  communicating  information,  preparing 
subjects  for  his  judgment,  and  issuing  his  orders ;  we  may 
say  that  the  fonn  of  organization  is  compara,ble  to  one  very 
general  among  inferior  types  of  animals,  in  which  there 
exists  a  chief  ganglion  with  a  few  dispersed  minor  ganglia 
under  its  control. 

The  analogies  between  the  evolution  of  governmental 
structures  in  societies,  and  the  evolution  of  governmental 
structures  in  living  bodies,  are,  however,  more  strikingly 
displayed  during  the  formation  of  nations  by  coalescence  of 
tribes — a  process  already  shown  to  be,  in  several  respects, 
parallel  to  the  development  of  creatures  that  primarily 
consist  of  many  like  segments.  Among  other  points  of 
community  between  the  successive  rings  which  make  up 
the  body  in  the  lower  Annulosa,  is  the  possession  of  similar 
pairs  of  ganglia.  These  pairs  of  ganglia,  though  connected 
by  nerves,  are  very  incompletely  dependent  on  any  general 
controlling  power.  Hence  it  results  that  when  the  body  is 
cut  in  two,  the  hinder  part  continues  to  move  forward 
under  the  propulsion  of  its  numerous  legs  ;  and  that  when 
the  chain  of  ganglia  has  been  divided  without  severing  the 
body,  the  hind  limbs  may  be  seen  trying  to  propel  the  body 
in  one  direction  while  the  fore  limbs  are  trying  to  propel  it 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  301 

in  another.  But  in  the  higher  Anmdosa,  called  Articulata, 
sundry  of  the  anterior  pairs  of  ganglia,  besides  growing 
larger,  unite  in  one  mass  ;  and  this  great  cephalic  ganglion 
having  become  the  co-ordinator  of  all  the  creature's  move- 
ments, there  no  longer  exists  much  local  independence. 
Now  may  we  not  in  the  growth  of  a  consolidated  kingdom 
out  of  petty  sovereignties  or  baronies,  observe  analogous 
changes  ?  Like  the  chiefs  and  primitive  rulers  above 
described,  feudal  lords,  exercising  supreme  power  over  their 
respective  groups  of  retainers,  discharge  functions  analogous 
to  those  of  rudimentary  nervous  centres.  Among  these 
local  governing  centres  there  is,  in  early  feudal  times,  very 
little  subordination.  They  are  in  frequent  antagonism; 
they  are  individually  restrained  chiefly  by  the  influence  of 
parties  in  their  own  class;  and  they  are  but  irregularly 
subject  to  that  most  powerful  member  of  their  order  who 
has  gained  the  position  of  head-suzerain  or  king.  As  the 
growth  and  organization  of  the  society  progresses,  these 
local  directive  centres  fall  more  and  more  under  the  control 
of  a  chief  directive  centre.  Closer  commercial  union 
between  the  several  segments  is  accompanied  by  closer 
governmental  union ;  and  these  minor  rulers  end  in  being 
little  more  than  agents  who  administer,  in  their  several 
localities,  the  laws  made  by  the  supreme  ruler  :  just  as  the 
local  ganglia  above  described,  eventually  become  agents 
which  enforce,  in  their  respective  segments,  the  orders  of 
the  cephalic  ganglion.  The  parallelism  holds  still  further. 
We  remarked  above,  when  speaking  of  the  rise  of  aboriginal 
kings,  that  in  proportion  as  their  territories  increase,  they 
are  obliged  not  only  to  perform  their  executive  functions 
liy  deputy,  but  also  to  gather  round  themselves  advisers  to 
aid  ill  their  directive  functions ;  and  that  thus,  in  place  of  a 
solitary  govei-ning  unit,  there  grows  up  a  group  of  govern- 
ing units,  comparable  to  a  ganglion  consisting  of  many 
cells.  Let  us  here  add  that  the  advisers  and  chief  officers 
who  thus  form  the  rudiment  of  a  ministry,  tend  from  the 


302  THE    SOCIAL    OR0AN(S?,T. 

beginning'  to  exorcise  some  control  over  tlie  ruler.  By  tlio 
information  they  give  and  the  opinions  they  express,  they 
sway  his  judgment  and  affect  Ms  commands.  To  this  extent 
he  is  made  a  channel  through  which  are  communicated  the 
directions  originating  with  them ;  and  in  course  of  time, 
when  the  advice  of  ministers  becomes  the  acknowledged 
source  of  his  actions,  the  king  assumes  the  character 
of  an  automatic  centre,  reflecting  the  impressions  mado 
on  him  from  without. 

Beyond  this  complication  of  governmental  structure  r>?any 
societies  do  not  progress ;  but  in  some,  a  further  develop- 
ment takes  place.  Our  own  case  best  illustrates  this  further 
development  and  its  further  analogies.  To  kings  and  their 
ministries  have  been  added,  in  England,  other  great 
directive  centres,  exercising  a  control  which,  at  first  small, 
has  been  gradually  becoming  predominant  :  as  with  the 
great  governing  ganglia  which  especially  distinguish  the 
highest  classes  of  living  beings.  Strange  as  the  assertion 
will  be  thought,  our  Houses  of  Parliament  discharge,  in  the 
social  economy,  functions  which  are  in  sundry  respects 
comparable  to  those  discharged  by  the  cerebral  masses  in 
a  vertebrate  animal.  As  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  single 
ganglion  to  be  affected  only  b}^  special  stimuli  from  par- 
ticular parts  of  the  body ;  so  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  single 
ruler  to  be  swayed  in  his  acts  by  exclusive  personal  or  class 
interests.  As  it  is  in  the  nature  of  a  cluster  of  ganglia, 
connected  with  the  primary  one,  to  convey  to  it  a  greater 
variety  of  influences  from  more  numerous  organs,  and  thus 
h)  make  its  acts  conform  to  more  numerous  requirements ; 
so  it  is  in  the  nature  of  the  subsidiary  controlling  powers 
surrounding  a  king  to  adapt  his  rule  to  a  greater  number  of 
public  exigencies.  And  as  it  is  in  the  nature  of  those  great 
and  latest-developed  ganglia  which  distinguish  the  higher 
animals,  to  interpret  and  combine  the  multiplied  and  varied 
impressions  conveyed  to  them  from  all  parts  of  the  system, 
and  to  regulate  the  actions  in  such  way  as  duly  to  regard 


THE   SOCIAL   ORGANISM.  303 

(licm  all;  so  it  is  in  tlie  nature  of  those  great  and  latest- 
developed  legislative  bodies  wliich.  distinguisli  the  most 
advanced  societies,  to  interpret  and  combine  the  wishes  of 
all  classes  and  localities,  and  to  make  laws  in  harmony  with 
the  general  wants.  We  may  describe  the  office  of  the  brain 
*■  as  that  of  averaging  the  interests  of  life,  physical,  intellect- 
ual, moral ;  and  a  good  brain  is  one  in  which  the  desires 
answering  to  these  respective  interests  are  so  balanced,  that 
the  conduct  they  jointly  dictate,  sacrifices  none  of  them. 
Similarly,  we  may  describe  the  office  of  a  Parliament  as  that 
of  averaging  the  interests  of  the  various  classes  in  a 
community ;  and  a  good  Parliament  is  one  in  which  the 
parties  answering  to  these  respective  interests  are  so 
balanced,  that  their  united  legislation  allows  to  each  class 
as  much  as  consists  with  the  claims  of  the  rest.  Besides 
being  comparable  in  their  duties,  these  great  directive 
centres,  social  and  individual,  are  comparable  in  the  pro- 
cesses by  which  their  duties  are  discharged.  The  cerebrum 
is  not  occupied  with  direct  impressions  from  without  but 
with  the  ideas  of  such  impressions.  Instead  of  the  actual 
sensations  produced  in  the  body,  and  directly  appreciated 
by  the  sensory  ganglia,  or  primitive  nervous  centres,  the 
cerebrum  receives  only  the  representations  of  these  sen- 
sations ;  and  its  consciousness  is  called  representative 
consciousness,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  original  or 
'pn'seniative  consciousness.  Is  it  not  significant  that  we 
have  hit  on  the  same  word  to  distinguish  the  function  of  our 
House  of  Commons  ?  We  call  it  a  representative  body, 
because  the  interests  Avith  which  it  deals  are  not  directly 
presented  to  it,  but  represented  to  it  by  its  various  members; 
and  a  debate  is  a  conflict  of  representations  of  the  results 
likely  to  follow  from  a  proposed  course — a  description  which 
applies  with  equal  truth  to  a  debate  in  the  individual 
consciousness.  In  both  cases,  too,  these  great  governing 
uiasses  take  no  part  in  the  executive  functions.  As,  after 
a  conflict  in  the  cerebrum,  those  desires  which  finally  pre- 


304  THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISM. 

dominate  act  on  the  subjacent  ganglia,  and  through  their 
insti'umentality  determine  the  bodily  actions  ;  so  the  parties 
which,  after  a  parliamentary  struggle,  gain  the  victory,  do 
not  themselves  carry  out  their  wishes,  but  get  them  carried 
out  by  the  executive  divisions  of  the  Government.  The 
fulfilment  of  all  legislative  decisions  still  devolves  on  the 
original  directive  centres  :  the  impulse  passing  from  the 
Parliament  to  the  Ministers  and  from  the  Ministers  to  the 
King,  in  whose  name  everything  is  done;  just  as  those 
smaller,  first-developed  ganglia,  which  in  the  lowest 
vertebrata  are  the  chief  controlling  agents,  are  still,  in  the 
brains  of  the  higher  vertebrata,  the  agents  through  which 
the  dictates  of  the  cerebrum  are  worked  out.  Moreover,  in 
both  cases  these  original  centres  become  increasingly  auto- 
matic. In  the  developed  vertebrate  animal,  they  have  little 
function  beyond  that  of  conveying  impressions  to,  and 
executing  the  determinations  of,  the  larger  centres.  In  our 
highly  organized  government,  the  monarch  has  long  been 
lapsing  into  a  passive  agent  of  Parliament ;  and  now, 
ministries  are  rapidly  falling  into  the  same  position.  Nay, 
between  the  two  cases  there  is  a  parallelism  even  in  respect 
of  the  exceptions  to  this  automatic  action.  For  in  the 
individual  creature  it  happens  that  under  circumstances  of 
sudden  alarm,  as  from  a  loud  sound  close  at  hand,  an 
unexpected  object  starting  up  in  front,  or  a  slip  from 
insecure  footing,  the  danger  is  guarded  against  by  some 
quick  involuntary  jump,  or  adjustment  of  the  limbs,  which 
occurs  before  there  is  time  to  consider  the  impending  evil 
and  take  deliberate  measures  to  avoid  it :  the  rationale  of 
which  is  that  these  violent  impressions  produced-_on  the 
senses,  are  reflected  from  the  sensory  ganglia  to  the  spinal 
cord  and  muscles,  without,  as  in  ordinary  cases,  first  passing 
through  the  cerebrum.  In  like  manner  on  national 
emergencies  calling  for  prompt  action,  the  King  and  Min- 
istry, not  having  time  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  great 
deliberative   bodies,   themselves   issue   commands  for   the 


THE    SOCIAL    ORGANISM.  305 

requisite  movements  or  precautions  :  tlie  primitive,  and  now 
almost  automatic,  directive  centres,  resume  for  a  moment 
their  original  uncontrolled  power.  And  then,  strangest  of 
all,  observe  that  in  either  case  there  is  an  after-process  of 
approval  or  disapproval.  The  individual  on  recovering  from 
his  automatic  start,  at  once  contemplates  the  cause  of  his 
fright ;  and,  according  to  the  case,  concludes  that  it  was 
well  he  moved  as  he  did,  or  condemns  himself  for  his 
groundless  alarm.  In  like  manner,  the  deliberative  powers 
of  the  State  discuss,  as  soon  as  may  be,  the  unauthorized 
acts  of  the  executive  powers;  and,  deciding  that  the 
reasons  were  or  were  not  sufficient,  grant  or  withhold  a 
bill  of  indemnity.* 

Thus  far  in  comparing  the  governmental  organization  of 
the  body-politic  with  that  of  an  individual  body,  we  have 
considered  only  the  respective  co-ordinating  centres.  We 
have  yet  to  consider  the  channels  through  which  these 
co-ordinating  centres  receive  information  and  convey  com- 
mands. In  the  simplest  societies,  as  in  the  simplest 
organisms,  there  is  no  "internuncial  apparatus,'^  as  Hunter 
styled  the  nervous  system.  Consequently,  impressions  can 
be  but  slowly  propagated  from  unit  to  unit  throughout  the 
whole  mass.  The  same  progress,  however,  which,  in 
animal-organization,  shows  itself"  in  the  establishment  of 
ganglia  or  directive  centres,  shows  itself  also  in  the 
establishment  of  nerve-threaJs,  through  which  the  ganglia 
receive   and    convey    impressions    and    so    control    remote 

*  It  may  be  well  to  warn  the  reader  against  an  error  fallen  into  by  one  who 
criticised  this  essay  on  its  first  publication — the  error  of  supposing  that  the 
analogy  here  intended  to  be  drawn,  is  a  specific  analogy  between  the 
organization  of  society  in  England,  and  the  human  organization.  As  said 
at  the  outset,  no  such  specific  analogy  exists.  The  above  parallel  is  one 
between  the  most-developed  systems  of  governmental  organization,  individual 
and  social;  and  the  vertebrate  type  is  ii^stanced  merely  as  exhibiting  this 
most-developed  system.  If  any  specifis  comparison  were  made,  which 
it  cannot  rationally  be,  it  would  be  ma('e  with  some  much  lower  vertebrate 
form  than  the  human. 


306  THE    SOCIAL    OKGANISM. 

organs.     And  in  societies  tlie  like  eventually  takes  place. 
After    a   long  period  during   wliich  tlie  directive    centres 
communicate  with  various  parts  of  tlie  society  tlirougk  other 
means,  there  at  last  comes  into  existence  an  "  internuncial 
apparatus,"  analogous  to  that  found  in  individual  bodies. 
,  The  comparison  of  telegraph-wires  to  nerves  is  familiar  to 
all.     It   applies,    however,    to    an    extent    not    commonly 
supposed.     Thus,  throughout  the  vertebrate  sub-kingdom, 
the  great  nerve-bundles  diverge  from  the  vertebrate  axis 
side  by  side  with  the    great  arteries;    and   similarly,  our 
groups  of  telegraph-wires  are  carried  along  the  sides  of  our 
railways.     The  most  striking  parallelism,  however,  remains. 
Into  each  great  bundle  of  nerves,  as  it  leaves  the  axis  of 
the  body  along  with  an  artery,  there  enters  a  branch  of  the 
sympathetic  nerve ;  which  branch,  accompanying  the  artery 
throughout  its  ramifications,  has  the  function  of  regulating 
its  diameter  and    otherwise  controlling  the  flow  of  blood 
through  it  according  to  local  requirements.     Analogously, 
in   the    group  of  telegraph-wires  running  alongside  each 
railway,  there  is  a  wire  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  the 
traffic — for  retarding  or  expediting  the  flow  of  passengers 
and  commodities,  as  the  local  conditions  demand.     Prob- 
ably, when  our  now  rudimentary  telegraph-system  is  fully 
developed,  other  analogies  will  be  traceable. 

Such,  then,  is  a  general  outline  of  the  evidence  which 
justifies  the  comparison  of  societies  to  living  organisms. 
That  they  gradually  increase  in  mass ;  that  they  become 
little  by  little  more  complex;  that  at  the  same  time  their 
parts  grow  more  mutually  dependent ;  and  that  they  con- 
tinue to  live  and  grow  as  wholes,  while  successive  generations 
of  their  units  appear  and  disappear ;  are  broad  peculiarities 
which  bodies-politic  display  in  common  with  all  living 
bodies ;  and  in  whic  htliey  and  living  bodies  differ  from 
everything  else.  And  on  carrying  out  the  comparison  in 
detail,  we  find  that  these  major  analogies  involve  many 
minor  analogies,  far  closer  than  might  have  been  expected, 


THE    SOCIAL   ORGANISir.  807 

Others  miglit  be  added.  We  liad  hoped  to  say  somethim; 
respecting  the  different  types  of  social  organization^  and 
something  also  on  social  metamorphoses;  but  we  have 
reached  our  assi;j:neJ  limits. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  ANIMAL  WORSHIP. 

{First  pulUslied  in  The  Fortnightly  Review  for  May,  1870.] 

Mr.  McLennan' s  recent  essays  on  the  Worship  of  Animals 
and  Plants  have  done  much  to  elucidate  a  very  obscure 
subject.  By  pursuing  in  this  case,  as  before  in  another  case, 
the  truly  scientific  method  of  comparing  the  phenomena 
presented  by  existing  uncivilized  races  with  those  which 
the  traditions  of  civilized  races  present,  he  has  rendered 
both  of  them  more  comprehensible  than  they  were  before. 

It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  Mr.  McLennan  gives  but 
an  indefinite  answer  to  the  essential  question — How  did  the 
worship  of  animals  and  plants  arise  ?  Indeed,  in  his  con- 
cluding paper,  he  expressly  leaves  this  problem  unsolved ; 
saying  that  his  "  is  not  an  hypothesis  explanatory  of  the 
origin  of  Totemism,  be  it  remembered,  but  an  hypothesis 
explanatory  of  the  animal  and  plant  worship  of  the  ancient 
nations.''  So  that  we  have  still  to  ask — Why  have  savage 
tribes  so  generally  taken  animals  and  plants  and  other 
things  as  totems  ?  What  can  have  induced  this  tribe  to 
ascribe  special  sacredness  to  one  creature,  and  that  tribe  to 
another  ?  And  if  to  these  questions  the  reply  is,  that  each 
tribe  considers  itself  to  be  descended  from  the  object  of  its 
reverence,  then  there  presses  for  answer  the  further  question 
— How  came  so  strange  a  notion  into  existence  ?      If  thia 


THE    ORIGIN    OP   ANIMAL- WORSHIP.  309 

notion  occurred  in  one  case  only^  we  iniglit  set  it  down  to 
some  whim  of  thought  or  some  ilhisive  occurrence.  But 
appearing,  as  it  does,  with  multitudinous  variations  among 
so  many  uncivilized  races  in  different  parts  of  the  world, 
and  having  left  numerous  marks  in  the  superstitions  of 
extinct  civilized  races,  we  cannot  assume  any  special  or 
exceptional  cause.  Moreover,  the  general  cause,  whatever 
it  may  be,  must  be  such  as  does  not  negative  an  aboriginal 
intelligence  like  in  nature  to  our  own.  After  studying  the 
grotesque  beliefs  of  savages,  we  are  apt  to  suppose  that 
their  reason  is  not  as  our  reason.  But  this  supposition  is 
inadmissible.  Given  the  amount  of  knowledge  which  primi- 
tive men  possess,  and  given  the  imperfect  verbal  symbols 
used  by  them  in  speech  and  thought,  and  the  conclusions 
they  habitually  reach  will  be  those  that  are  relatively  the 
most  rational.  This  must  be  our  postulate ;  and,  setting 
out  with  this  postulate,  we  have  to  ask  how  primitive  men 
came  so  generally,  if  not  universally,  to  believe  themselves 
the  progeny  of  animals  or  plants  or  inanimate  bodies.  There 
is,  I  believe,  a  satisfactory  answer. 

The  proposition  with  which  Mr.  McLennan  sets  out,  that 
totem-worship  preceded  the  worship  of  anthropomorphic 
gods,  is  one  to  which  I  can  yield  but  a  qualified  assent.  It 
is  true  in  a  sense,  but  not  wholly  true.  If  the  words  "  gods  " 
and  "  worship '^  carry  with  them  their  ordinary  definite 
meanings,  the  statement  is  true;  but  if  their  meanings  are 
widened  so  as  to  comprehend  those  earliest  vague  notions  out 
of  which  the  definite  ideas  of  gods  and  worship  are  evolved, 
I  think  it  is  not  true.  The  rudimentary  form  of  all  religion 
is  the  propitiation  of  dead  ancestors,  who  are  supposed  to 
be  still  existing,  and  to  be  capable  of  working  good  or  evil 
to  their  descendants.  As  a  preparation  for  dealing  hereafter 
with  the  principles  of  sociology,  I  have,  for  some  years  past, 
directed  much  attention  to  the  modes  of  thought  current  in 
the  simpler  human  societies ;  and  evidence  of  many  kinds, 


310  THE    ORIGIN    OF    ANIMAL-WORSHIP. 

furnished  by  all  varieties  of  uncivilized  men,  Las  forced  on 
me  a  conclusion  harmonizing  with  that  lately  expressed  m 
this  Review  by  Prof.  Huxley — namely,  that  the  savage,  con- 
ceiving a  corpse  to  be  deserted  by  the  active  personality 
who  dwelt  in  it,  conceives  this  active  personality  to  be  still 
existing,  and  that  his  feelings  and  ideas  concerning  it  form 
the  basis  of  his  superstitions.  Everywhere  we  find  expressed 
or  implied  the  belief  that  each  person  is  double ;  and  that 
when  he  dies,  his  other  self,  whether  remaining  near  at  hand 
or  gone  far  away,  may  return,  and  continues  capable  of 
injuring  his  enemies  and  aiding  his  friends."^ 

But  how  out  of  the  desire  to  propitiate  this  second  por- 

*  A  critical  reader  may  raise  an  objection.  If  animal-worship  is  to  be 
rationally  interpreted,  how  can  the  interpretation  set  out  by  assuming  a  belief 
in  the  spirits  of  dead  ancestors — a  belief  which  just  as  much  requires  explana- 
tion ?  Doubtless  there  is  here  a  wide  gap  in  the  argument.  I  hope  eventually 
to  fill  it  up.  Here,  out  of  many  experiences  which  conspire  to  generate  this 
belief,  I  can  but  briefly  indicate  the  leading  ones :  1.  It  is  not  impossible  that 
his  shadow,  following  him  everywhere,  and  moving  as  he  moves,  may  have 
some  small  share  in  giving  to  the  savage  a  vague  idea  of  his  dualitj'.  It 
needs  but  to  watcli  a  child's  interest  in  the  movements  of  its  shadow,  and  to 
remember  that  at  first  a  shadow  cannot  be  interpreted  as  a  negation  of  light, 
but  is  looked  upon  as  an  entity,  to  perceive  that  the  savage  may  very  possibly 
consider  it  as  a  specific  something  which  forms  part  of  him.  2.  A  much  more 
decided  suggestion  of  the  same  kind  is  likely  to  result  from  the  reflection  of 
his  face  and  figure  in  water :  imitating  him  as  it  does  in  his  form,  colours,  mo- 
tions, grimaces.  When  we  remember  that  not  unfrequently  a  savage  objects 
to  have  his  portrait  taken,  because  he  thinks  whoever  carries  away  a  repre- 
sentation of  him  carries  away  some  part  of  his  being,  we  see  how  probable 
it  is  that  he  thinks  his  double  in  the  water  is  a  reality  in  some  way  belonging 
to  him.  3.  Echoes  must  greatly  tend  to  confirm  the  idea  of  duality  otherwise 
arrived  at.  Incapable  as  he  is  of  understanding  their  natural  origin,  the 
primitive  man  necessarily  ascribes  them  to  living  beings — beings  wlio  mock 
him  and  elude  his  search.  4.  The  suggestions  resulting  from  these  and  other 
physical  phenomena  are,  however,  secondary  in  importance.  The  root  of  this 
belief  in  another  self  lies  in  the  experience  of  dreams.  The  distinction  so 
easily  made  by  us  between  our  life  in  dreams  and  our  real  life,  is  one  which 
the  savage  recognizes  in  but  a  vague  way  ;  and  he  cannot  express  even  that 
distinction  which  he  perceives.  When  he  awakes,  and  to  those  who  have  seen 
him  lying  quietly  asleep,  describes  where  he  has  been,  and  what  he  has  done, 
his  rude  language  fails  to  state  the  difference  between  seeing  and  dreaming 
that  ho  saw,  doing  and  dreamiug  that  he  did.     From  this  inadequacy  of  his 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    ANIIIAL-WOESIIIP.  311 

Bonality  of  a  deceased  man  (tlie  words  "  ghost  "  and  "  spirit " 
are  somewhat  misleading,  since  the  savage  believes  that  the 
second  personality  reappears  in  a  form  equally  tangible 
with  the  first),  does  there  grow  up  the  worship  of  animals, 
plants,  and  inanimate  objects  ?  Very  simply.  Savages 
habitually  distinguish  individuals  by  names  that  are  either 
directly  suggestive  of  some  personal  trait  or  fact  of  personal 

language  it  not  only  results  that  he  cannot  truly  represent  this  difference  to 
others,  but  also  that  he  cannot  truly  represent  it  to  himself.  Hence,  in  the 
absence  of  an  alternative  interpretation,  his  belief,  and  that  of  those  to  whom 
he  tells  his  adventures,  is  that  his  other  self  has  been  away,  and  came  back 
when  he  awoke.  And  this  belief,  which  we  find  among  various  existing  savage 
tribes,  we  equally  find  in  the  traditions  of  the  early  civilized  races.  5.  The 
conception  of  another  self  capable  of  going  away  and  returning,  receives 
what  to  the  savage  must  seem  conclusive  verifications  from  the  abnormal 
suspensions  of  consciousness,  and  derangements  of  consciousness,  that 
occasionally  occur  in  members  of  his  tribe.  One  who  has  fainted,  and  cannot 
be  immediately  brought  back  to  himself  (note  the  significance  of  our  own 
phrases  "  returning  to  himself,"  etc.)  as  a  sleeper  can,  shows  him  a  state  in 
which  the  other  self  has  been  away  for  a  time  beyond  recall.  Still  more  is 
this  prolonged  absence  of  the  other  self  shown  him  in  cases  of  apoplexy,  cata- 
lepsy, and  other  forms  of  suspended  animation.  Here  for  hours  the  other 
self  persists  in  remaining  away,  and  on  returning  refuses  to  say  where  he  has 
been.  Further  verification  is  afforded  by  every  epileptic  subject,  into  whose 
body,  during  the  absence  of  the  other  self,  some  enemy  has  entered;  for  how 
else  does  it  happen  that  the  other  self,  on  returning,  denies  all  knowledge  of 
what  his  body  has  been  doing  ?  And  this  supposition  that  the  body  has  been 
"  possessed  "  by  some  other  being,  is  confirmed  by  the  phenomena  of  soni- 
nambulism  and  insanity.  6.  What,  then,  is  the  interpretation  inevitably  put 
upon  death?  The  other  self  has  habitually  returned  after  sleep,  which  simu- 
lates death.  It  has  returned,  too,  after  fainting,  which  simulates  death  much 
more.  It  has  even  returred  after  the  rigid  state  of  catalepsy,  which  simulates 
death  very  greatly.  Will  it  not  return  also  after  this  still  more  prolonged 
quiescence  and  rigidity  ?  Clearly  it  is  quite  possible — quite  probable  even. 
The  dead  man's  other  self  is  gone  away  for  a  long  time,  but  it  still  exists 
somewhere,  far  or  near,  and  may  at  any  moment  come  back  to  do  all  he  said 
he  would  do.  Hence  the  various  burial-rites — the  placing  of  weapons  and 
valuables  along  with  the  body,  the  daily  bringing  of  food  to  it,  «itr..  I  hops 
hereafter  to  show  that,  with  such  knowledge  of  the  facis  as  he  has,  this 
interpretation  is  the  most  reasonable  the  savage  can  arrive  at.  Let  me  here, 
however,  by  way  of  showing  how  clearly  the  facts  bear  out  this  view,  give  one 
illustration  out  of  many.  "  The  ceremonies  with  which  they  [the  Veddahs] 
invoke  them  [the  shades  of  the  dead]  are  few  as  they  are  simple.  The  most 
21 


812  TflE   ORIGIN    OF    ANIMAL-WORSHIP. 

liistory,  or  else  express  an  observed  community  of  character 
"witli  some  well-known  object.  Such  a  genesis  of  indi- 
vidual names,  before  surnames  have  arisen,  is  inevitable  ; 
and  how  easily  it  arises  we  shall  see  on  remembering  th;it 
it  still  goes  on  in  its  original  form,  even  when  no  longer 
needful.  I  do  not  refer  only  to  the  significant  fact  that  in 
some  parts  of  England,  as  in  the  nail-making  districts,  nick- 
names are  general,  and  surnames  little  recognized ;  but  I 
refer  to  a  common  usage  among  both  children  and  adults. 
The  rude  man  is  apt  to  be  known  as  "a  bear;"  a  sly 
fellow,  as  ''an  old  fox;**  a  hypocrite,  as  "the  crocodile.'* 
Names  of  plants,  too,  are  used ;  as  when  the  red-haired  boy 
is  called  "carrots"  by  his  school-fellows.  Nor  do  we  lack 
nicknames  derived  from  inorganic  objects  and  agents : 
instance  that  given  by  Mr.  Carlyle  to  the  elder  Sterling — • 
"  Captain  Whirlwind."  Now,  in  the  earliest  savage  state, 
this  metaphorical  naming  will  in  most  cases  commence 
afresh  in  each  generation — must  do  so,  indeed,  until  sur- 
names of  some  kind  have  been  established.  I  say  in  most 
cases,  because  there  will  occur  exceptions  in  the  cases 
of  men  who  have  distinguished  themselves.     If  "the  Wolf,** 

common  is  the  following.  An  arrow  is  fixed  upright  in  the  ground,  and  the 
Veddah  dances  slowly  round  it,  chanting  this  invocation,  which  is  almost 
musical  in  its  rhythm : 

•'  Ma  miya,  ma  miy,  ma  deya, 
Topang  koyihetti  mittigan  yanddh?" 
«'  My  departed  one,  my  departed  one,  my  Godl 
Where  art  thou  wandering?  " 
"  This  invocation  appears  to  be  used  on  all  occasions  when  the  intervention 
of  the  guardian  spirits  is  required,  in  sickness,  preparatory  to  hunting,  etc. 
Sometimes,  in  the  latter  case,  a  portion  of  the  flesh  of  the  game  is  promised  as 
a  votive  offering,  in  the  event  of  the  chase  being  successful ;  and  they  believe 
that  the  spirits  will  appear  to  them  in  dreams  and  tell  them  where  to  hunt. 
Sometimes  they  cook  food  and  place  it  in  the  dry  bed  of  a  river,  or  some  other 
secluded  spot,  and  then  call  on  their  deceased  ancestors  by  name.    '  Come  and 
partake  of  this  1  Give  us  maintenance  as  you  did  when  living  1  Come,  where- 
soever you  may  be  ;  on  a  tree,  on  a  rock,  in  the  forest,  come  ! '     And  they 
dance  round  the  food,  lialf  chanting,  half  shouting,  the  invocation." — Bailey, 
in  Transactions  of  tJie  EtUnological  Society,  Loudon,  N.  S.,  ii.,  p.  301- 2. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    ANIMAL-WOKSIIIP.  313 

proving  famous  in  figlit,  becomes  a  terror  to  neighbouring 
tribes,  and  a  dominant  man  in  his  own,  his  sons,  proud 
of  their  parentage,  will  not  let  fall  the  fact  that  they 
descended  from  "the  Wolf";  nor  will  this  fact  be  forgotten 
by  the  rest  of  the  tribe  who  hold  "the  Wolf"  in  awe,  and 
Boe  reason  to  dread  his  sons.  In  proportion  to  the  power 
and  celebrity  of  ''  the  Wolf  "  will  this  pride  and  this  fear 
conspire  to  maintain  among  his  grandchildren  and  great- 
grandchildren, as  well  as  among  those  over  whom  they 
dominate,  the  remembrance  of  the  fact  that  their  ancestor 
was  ''the  Wolf  ".  And  if,  as  will  occasionally  happen,  this 
dominant  family  becomes  the  root  of  a  new  tribe,  the 
members  of  this  tribe  will  become  known  to  themselves  and 
others  as  "  the  Wolves". 

We  need  not  rest  satisfied  with  the  inference  that  this 
inheritance  of  nicknames  will  take  place.  There  is  proof 
that  it  does  take  place.  As  nicknaming  after  animals, 
plants,  and  other  objects,  still  goes  on  among  ourselves,  so 
among  ourselves  does  there  go  on  the  descent  of  nicknames. 
An  instance  has  come  under  my  own  notice  on  an  estate 
in  the  West  Highlands,  belonging  to  some  friends  with 
whom  I  frequently  have  the  pleasvire  of  spending  a  few 
weeks  in  the  autumn.  "  Take  a  young  Croshek,"  has  more 
than  once  been  the  reply  of  my  host  to  the  inquiry,  who 
should  go  with  me,  when  I  was  setting  out  salmon-fishing. 
The  elder  Croshek  I  knew  well ;  and  supposed  that  this 
name,  borne  by  him  and  by  all  belonging  to  him,  was  the 
family  surname.  Years  passed  before  I  learned  that  the 
real  surname  was  Cameron  ;  that  the  father  was  called 
Croshek,  after  the  name  of  his  cottage,  to  distinguish  him 
from  other  Camerons  employed  about  the  premises ;  and 
that  his  children  had  come  to  be  similarlv  distinguished. 
Though  here,  as  very  generally  in  Scotland,  the  nickname 
was  derived  from  the  place  of  residence,  yet  had  it  been 
derived  fi-om  an  animal,  the  process  would  have  been  the 
same  :    inheritance    of    it    would    have    occurred  just   as 


314  THE    ORIGIN    OF    ANIMAL-WOrSHIP. 

naturally.  Not  even  for  tlils  small  link  in  the  argument, 
however,  need  we  depend  on  inference.  There  is  fact  to 
bear  us  out.  Mr.  Bates,  in  his  Naturalist  on  the  River 
Amazons  (2d  ed.,  p.  376),  describing  three  half-castes  who 
accompanied  him  on  a  hunting  trip,  says — "  Two  of  them 
were  brothers,  namely,  Joao  (John)  and  Zephyrino  Jabuti : 
JabutI,  or  tortoise,  being  a  nickname  which  their  father  had 
earned  for  his  slow  gait,  and  which,  as  is  usual  in  this 
country,  had  descended  as  the  surname  of  the  family."  Let 
me  add  the  statement  made  by  Mr.  Wallace  respecting  this 
same  region,  that  "  one  of  the  tribes  on  the  river  Isanna 
is  called  'Jurupari'  (Devils).  Another  is  called 'Ducks;* 
a  third,  'Stars;'  a  fourth,  'Mandiocca.'"  Putting  these 
two  statements  together,  can  there  be  any  doubt  about  the 
genesis  of  these  tribal  names  ?  Let  "  the  Tortoise  "  become 
sufficiently  distinguished  (not  necessarily  by  superiority — 
great  inferiority  may  occasionally  suffice)  and  the  tradition 
of  descent  from  him,  preserved  by  his  descendants  them- 
selves if  he  was  superior,  and  by  their  contemptuous  neigh- 
bours if  he  was  inferior,  may  become  a  tribal  name."^ 

"But  this,"  it  will  be  said,  "does  not  amount  to  an 
explanation  of  animal-worship.*'  True :  a  third  factor 
remains  to  be  specified.  Given  a  belief  in  the  still-existing 
other  self  of  the  deceased  ancestor,  who  must  be  propitiated; 
given  this  survival  of  his  metaphorical  name  among  his 
grandchildren,  great-grandchildren,  etc.;  and  the  further 

*  Since  the  foregoing  pages  -were  written,  my  attention  has  been  drawn  by 
Sir  John  Lubbock  to  a  passage  in  the  appendix  to  the  second  edition  of  Jr«- 
historic  Times,  in  which  he  has  indicated  this  derivation  of  tribal  names. 
He  says :  "  In  endeavouring  to  account  for  the  worship  of  animals,  we  must 
remember  that  names  are  very  frequently  taken  from  them.  The  children 
and  followers  of  a  man  called  the  Bear  or  the  Lion  would  make  that  a  tribal 
name.  Hence  the  animal  itself  would  be  first  respected,  at  last  worshipped." 
Of  the  genesis  of  this  worship,  however.  Sir  John  Lubbock  does  not  give  any 
specific  explanation.  Apparently  he  inclines  to  the  belief,  tacitly  adojited  also 
by  Mr.  McLennan,  that  animal-worship  is  derived  from  an  original  Fetichism, 
of  which  it  is  a  more  developed  form.  As  will  shortly  be  seen,  I  take  a 
different  view  of  its  origin. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    ANIMAL-WORSHIP.  315 

requisite  is  that  the  distinction  between  metaphor  and 
reality  shall  be  forgotten.  Let  tradition  fail  to  keep  clearly 
in  view  the  fact  that  the  ancestor  was  a  man  called  "the 
Wolf  " — let  him  be  habitually  spoken  of  as  "  the  Wolf  ",  just 
as  when  alive;  and  the  natural  mistake  of  taking  the  name 
literally  will  bring  with  it,  firstly,  a  belief  in  descent  from 
an  actual  wolf,  and,  secondly,  a  treatment  of  the  wolf  in  a 
manner  likely  to  propitiate  him — a  manner  appropriate  to 
one  who  may  be  the  other  self  of  the  dead  ancestor,  or  one 
of  the  kindred,  and  therefore  a  friend. 

That  a  misunderstanding  of  this  kind  is  likely  to  grow 
up,  becomes  obvious  when  we  bear  in  mind  the  great  in- 
definiteness  of  primitive  language.  As  Prof.  Max  Miiller 
says,  respecting  certain  misinterpretations  of  an  opposite 
kind:  "These  metaphors  .  .  .  .  would  become  mere  names 
handed  down  in  the  conversation  of  a  family,  understood 
perhaps  by  the  grandfather,  familiar  to  the  father,  but 
strange  to  the  son,  and  misunderstood  by  the  grandson.'' 
We  have  ample  reason,  then,  for  supposing  such  misinter- 
pretations. Nay,  we  may  go  further.  We  are  justified  in 
saying  that  they  are  certain  to  occur.  For  undeveloped 
languages  contain  no  words  capable  of  indicating  the 
distinction  to  be  kept  in  view.  In  the  tongues  of  existing 
inferior  races,  only  concrete  objects  and  acts  are  expressible. 
The  Australians  have  a  name  for  each  kind  of  tree,  but  no 
name  for  tree  irrespective  of  kind.  And  though  some 
witnesses  allege  that  their  vocabulary  is  not  absolutely 
destitute  of  generic  names,  its  extreme  poverty  in  such  is 
unquestionable.  Similarly  with  the  Tasmanians.  Dr.  Milli- 
gan  says  they  "had  acquired  very  limited  powers  of 
abstraction  or  generalization.  They  possessed  no  words 
representing  abstract  ideas ;  for  each  variety  of  gum-tree 
and  wattle-tree,  etc.,  etc.,  they  had  a  name,  but  they  had  no 
equivalent  for  the  expression,  'a  tree;'  neither  could  they 
express  abstract  qualities,  such  as  hard,  soft,  warm,  cold, 
long,  short,  round,  etc.;  for  'hard,'  they  would  say  'like  a 


316  THE  ORIGIN  OF  A:fiMAL-wonsnip. 

stone;'  for  'tall,'  tliey  would  say  Mong  legs/  etc. ;  and  for 
'  round/  they  said  '  like  a  ball/  '  like  the  moon/  and  so  on, 
usually  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  and  confirming,  by 
some  sign,  the  meaning  to  be  understood/'*  Now,  even 
making  allowance  for  over-statement  here  (which  seems 
needful,  since  the  word  ''long,''  said  to  be  inexpressible  in 
the  abstract,  subsequently  occurs  as  qualifying  a  concrete 
in  the  expression,  "long  legs"),  it  is  manifest  that  so 
imperfect  a  language  must  fail  to  convey  the  idea  of  a 
name,  as  something  separate  from  a  thing;  and  that  still 
less  can  it  be  capable  of  indicating  the  act  of  naming. 
Familiar  use  of  such  partially- abstract  words  as  are  appli- 
cable to  all  objects  of  a  class,  is  needful  before  there  can  be 
reached  the  conception  of  a  name — a  word  symbolizing  the 
symbolic  character  of  other  words ;  and  the  conception  of  a 
name,  with  its  answering  abstract  term,  must  be  long  current 
before  the  verb  to  name  can  arise.  Hence,  men  with 
speech  so  rude,  cannot  transmit  the  tradition  of  an 
ancestor  named"theWolf",as  distinguished  from  the  actual 
wolf.  The  children  and  grandchildren  who  saw  him  will 
not  be  led  into  error  ;  but  in  later  generations,  descent  from 
"  the  Wolf  "  will  inevitably  come  to  mean  descent  from  the 
animal  known  by  that  name.  And  the  ideas  and  senti- 
ments which,  as  above  sbown,  naturally  grow  up  round  the 
belief  that  the  dead  parents  and  grandparents  are  still  alive, 
and  ready,  if  propitiated,  to  befriend  their  descendants,  will 
be  extended  to  the  wolf  species. 

Before  passing  to  other  developments  of  this  general 
view,  let  me  point  out  how  not  simply  animal-worship  ia 
thus  accovinted  for,  but  also  the  conception,  so  variously 
illustrated  in  ancient  legends,  that  animals  are  capable  of 
displaying  hvinian  powers  of  speech  and  thought  and  action. 
INIythologies  are  full  of  stories  of  beasts  and  birds  and 
fishes  that  have  played  intelligent  parts  in  human  affairs — ■ 

*  Proceedings  of  the  Boyal  Society  of  Tasmania,  iii.,  p.  280-81. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF   ANIMAL-WORSniP.  317 

creatures  tliat  have  befriended  particular  persons  by  giving 
them  information,  by  guiding  them,  by  yielding  them  help; 
or  else  that  have  deceived  them,  verbally  or  otherwise. 
Evidently  all  these  traditions,  as  well  as  those  about  abduc- 
tions of  women  by  animals  and  fostering  of  children  by  them, 
fall  naturally  into  their  places  as  results  of  the  habitual 
misinterpretation  I  have  described. 

The  probability  of  the  hypothesis  will  appear  still 
greater  when  we  observe  how  readily  it  applies  to  the 
worship  of  other  orders  of  objects.  Belief  in  actual 
descent  from  an  animal,  strange  as  we  may  think  it,  is  one 
by  no  means  incongruous  with  the  unanalyzed  experiences 
of  the  savage ;  for  there  come  under  his  notice  many  meta- 
morphoses, vegetal  and  animal,  which  are  apparently  oi: 
like  character.  But  how  could  he  possibly  arrive  at  so 
grotesque  a  conception  as  that  the  progenitor  of  his  tribe 
was  the  sun,  or  the  moon,  or  a  particular  star  ?  No 
observation  of  surrounding  phenomena  affords  the  slightest 
suggestion  of  any  such  possibility.  But  by  the  inheritance 
of  nicknames  that  are  eventually  mistaken  for  the  names 
of  the  objects  from  which  they  were  derived,  the  belief 
readily  arises — is  sure  to  arise.  That  the  names  of 
heavenly  bodies  will  furnish  metaphorical  names  to  the 
uncivilized,  is  manifest.  Do  we  not  ourselves  call  a  dis- 
tinguished singer  or  actor  a  star  ?  And  have  we  not  in 
poems  numerous  comparisons  of  men  and  women  to  tho 
sun  and  moon ;  as  in  Love's  Labour's  Lost,  where  the 
princess  is  called  "a  gracious  moon,''  and  as  in  Henri/ 
VII.,  where  we  read — ''  Those  suns  of  glory,  those  two 
lights  of  men  ? "  Clearly,  primitive  peoples  will  be  not 
unlikely  thus  to  speak  of  the  chief  hero  of  a  successful 
battle.  AVIien  we  remember  how  the  arrival  of  a  trium- 
phant warrior  must  affect  the  feelings  of  his  tribe,  dissi- 
pating clouds  of  anxiety  and  brightening  all  faces  with 
joy,  we  shall  see  that  the  comparison  of  him  to  the  sun  ia 


318  THE    ORIGIN    OF   ANIMAL-WORSHIP. 

quite  natural ;  and  in  early  speech  this  comparison  can  be 
made  only  by  calling  him  the  sun.  As  before,  then,  it  will 
happen  that,  through  a  confounding  of  the  metaphorical 
name  with  the  actual  name,  his  progeny,  after  a  few 
generations,  will  be  regarded  by  themselves  and  others  ag 
descendants  of  the  sun.  And,  as  a  consequence,  partly  of 
actual  inheritance  of  the  ancestral  charactei',  and  partly  of 
maintenance  of  the  traditions  respecting  the  ancestor's 
achievements,  it  will  also  naturallj''  happen  that  the  solar 
race  will  be  considered  a  superior  race,  as  we  find  it 
habitually  is. 

The  origin  of  other  totems,  equally  strange,  if  not  even 
stranger,  is  similarly  accounted  for,  though  otherwise  un- 
accountable. One  of  the  New-Zealand  chiefs  claimed  as  his 
progeuitor  the  neighbouring  great  mountain,  Tongariro. 
This  seemingly-whimsical  belief  becomes  intelligible  when 
we  observe  how  easily  it  may  have  arisen  from  a  nickname. 
Do  we  not  ourselves  sometimes  speak  figuratively  of  a  tall, 
fat  man  as  a  mountain  of  flesh  ?  And,  among  a  people 
prone  to  speak  in  still  more  concrete  terms,  would  it  not 
happen  that  a  chief,  remarkable  for  his  great  bulk,  would 
be  nicknamed  after  the  highest  mountain  within  sight, 
because  he  towered  above  other  men  as  this  did  above  sur- 
rounding hills?  Such  an  occurrence  is  not  simply  possible, 
but  probable.  And,  if  so,  the  confusion  of  metaphor  with 
fact  would  originate  this  surprising  genealogy.  A  notion 
perhaps  yet  more  grotesque,  thus  receives  a  satisfactory 
interpretation.  What  could  have  put  it  into  the  imagina- 
tion of  any  one  that  he  was  descended  from  the  dawn  ? 
Given  the  extremest  credulity,  joined  with  the  wildest 
fancy,  it  would  still  seem  requisite  that  the  ancestor  should 
be  conceived  as  an  entity ;  and  the  dawn  is  entirely  with- 
out that  definiteness  and  comparative  constancy  which 
enter  into  the  conception  of  an  entity.  But  when  we 
remember  that  "  the  Dawn "  is  a  natural  complimentary 
name  for  a  beautiful    girl   opening  into  womanhood,  the 


THE    OIIIGIN    OF    ANIMAL-WORSHIP.  319 

gonesis    of   the    idea   becomes,  on   the    above   hypothesis, 
quite  obvious.* 

Another  indirect  verification  is  that  we  thus  get  a  clear 
conception  of  Fetichism  in  general.  Under  the  fetichistic 
mode  of  thought,  surrounding  objects  and  agents  are 
regarded  as  having  powers  more  or  less  definitely  personal 
in  their  natures  ;  and  the  current  interpretation  is,  that 
human  intelligence,  in  its  early  stages,  is  obliged  to  con- 
ceive of  their  powers  under  this  form.  I  have  myself 
hitherto  accepted  this  interpretation;  though  always  with 
a  sense  of  dissatisfaction.  This  dissatisfaction  was,  I 
think,  well  grounded.  The  theory  is  scarcely  a  theory 
properly  so-called ;  but  rather,  a  restatement  in  other 
words.  Uncivilized  men  do  habitually  form  anthropo- 
morphic conceptions  of  surrounding  things ;  and  this 
observed  general  fact  is  transformed  into  the  theory  that 
at  first  they  onufit  so  conceive  them — a  theory  for  which 
the  psychological  justification  attempted,  seems  to  me 
inadequate.  From  our  present  stand-point,  it  becomes 
manifest  that  Fetichism  is  not  primary  but  secondary. 
What  has  been  said  above  almost  of  itself  shows  this. 
Let  us,  however,  follow  out  the  steps  of  its  genesis.  Re- 
specting the  Tasmanians,  Dr.  Milligan  says  : — "  The 
names  of  men  and  women  were  taken  from  natural  objects 
and  occurrences  around,  as,  for  instance,  a  kangaroo,  a  gum 
tree,  snow,  hail,'  thunder,  the  wind,''  flowers  in  blossom, 
etc.  Surrounding  objects,  then,  giving  origin  to  names 
of  persons,  and  being,  in  the  way  shown,  eventually  mis- 
taken for  the  actual  progenitors  of  those  who  descend 
from  persons  nicknamed  after  them,  it  results  that  these 
surrounding  objects  come  to  be  regarded  as  in  some 
manner  possessed  of  personalities    like   the    human.     He 

*  I  have  since  found,  however,  that  the  name  Dawn,  which  occurs  in 
various  places,  seems  more  frequently  a  birth-name,  given  because  the  birth 
took  place  at  dawn. 


320  THE    ORIGIN    Oi!    ANIMAL-WORSHIP. 

whose  family  tradition  is  that  his  ancestor  was  "  the 
Crab,"  will  conceive  the  crab  as  having  a  disguised  inner 
power  like  his  own;  an  alleged  descent  from  "the  Palm- 
tree  "  will  entail  belief  in  some  kind  of  consciousness 
dwelling  in  the  palm-tree.  Hence,  in  proportion  as  the 
animals,  plants,  and  inanimate  objects  or  agents  that 
originate  names  of  persons,  become  numerous  (which  they 
will  do  in  proportion  as  a  tribe  becomes  large  and  the 
number  of  persons  to  be  distinguished  from  one  another 
increases),  multitudinous  things  around  will  acquire  ima- 
ginary personalities.  And  so  it  will  happen  that,  as  Mr. 
McLennan  says  of  the  Feejeeans,  "  Vegetables  and  stones, 
nay,  even  tools  and  weapons,  pots  and  canoes,  have  souls 
that  are  immortal,  and  that,  like  the  souls  of  men,  pass  on 
at  last  to  Mbulu,  the  abode  of  departed  spirits."  Setting 
out,  then,  with  a  belief  in  the  still-living  other  self  of  the 
dead  ancestor,  the  alleged  general  cause  of  misapprehen- 
sion affords  us  an  intellig-ible  orio-in  of  the  fetichistic  con- 
ception ;  and  we  are  enabled  to  see  how  it  tends  to  become 
a  general,  if  not  a  universal,  conception. 

Other  apparently  inexplicable  phenomena  are  at  the 
same  time  divested  of  their  strangeness.  I  refer  to  the 
beliefs  in,  and  worship  of,  compound  monsters — impossible 
hybrid  animals,  and  forms  that  are  half  human,  half  brutal. 
The  theory  of  a  primordial  Fetichism,  supposing  it  other- 
wise adequate,  yields  no  feasible  solutions  of  these.  Grant 
the  alleged  original  tendency  to  think  of  all  natural 
agencies  as  in  some  Avay  personal.  Grant,  too,  that  hence 
may  arise  a  worship  of  animals,  plants,  and  even  inanimate 
bodies.  Still  the  obvious  implication  is  that  the  worship 
so  derived  will  be  limited  to  things  that  are,  or  have  been, 
perceived.  AVhy  should  this  mode  of  thought  lead  the 
savage  to  imagine  a  combination  of  bird  and  mammal; 
and  not  only  to  imagine  it,  but  to  worship  it  as  a  god  ?  If 
even  we  admit  that  some  illusion  may  have  suggested  the 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    AKIMAL-WOKSHfP.  321 

belief  in  a  creature  half  man,  half  fish,  we  cannot  thus 
explain  the  prevalence  among  Eastern  races  of  idols 
representing  bird-headed,  men,  and  men  having  their  legs 
replaced  by  the  legs  of  a  cock,  and  men  with  the 
heads  of  elephants. 

Carrying  with  us  the  inferences  above  drawn,  however, 
it  is  a  corollary  that  ideas  and  practices  of  these  kinds  will 
arise.  When  tradition  preserves  both  lines  of  ancestry — • 
when  a  chief,  nicknamed  "  the  Wolf  ",  carries  away  from  an 
adjacent  tribe  a  wife  who  is  remembered  either  under  the 
animal  name  of  her  tribe,  or  as  a  woman ;  it  will  happen 
that  if  a  son  distinguishes  himself,  the  remembrance  of 
him  among  his  descendants  will  be  that  he  was  born  of  a 
wolf  and  some  other  animal,  or  of  a  wolf  and  a  woman. 
Misinterpretation,  arising  in  the  way  described  from  de- 
fects of  language,  will  entail  belief  in  a  creature  uniting 
the  attributes  of  the  two ;  and  if  the  tribe  grows  into  a 
society,  representations  of  such  a  creature  will  become 
objects  of  worship.  One  of  the  cases  cited  by  Mr. 
McLennan  may  here  be  repeated  in  illustration.  "  The 
story  of  the  origin  of  the  Dikokamenni  Kirgheez,''  they 
say,  "  from  a  red  greyhound  and  a  certain  queen  and  her 
forty  handmaidens,  is  of  ancient  date.''  Now,  if  ''  the 
red  greyhound "  was  the  nickname  of  a  man  extremely 
swift  of  foot  (celebrated  runners  have  been  nicknamed 
"  greyhound  "  among  ourselves),  a  story  of  this  kind  would 
naturally  arise;  and  if  the  metaphorical  name  was  mis- 
taken for  the  actual  name,  there  might  result,  as  the  idol 
of  the  race,  a  compound  form  appropriate  to  the  story. 
We.  need  not  be  surprised,  then,  at  finding  among  the 
Egyptians  the  goddess  Pasht  represented  as  a  woman  with 
a  lion's  head,  and  the  god  Har-hat  as  a  man  with  the  head 
of  a  hawk.  The  Babylonian  gods — one  having  the  form 
of  a  man  with  an  eagle's  tail,  and  another  uniting  a  human 
bust  to  a  fish's  body — no  longer  appear  such  unaccountable 
conceptions.     We  get  feasible  explanations,  too,  of  sculp- 


322  THE    ORIGIN   OP   ANIMAL-WORSHIP. 

fcures  representing  sphinxes,  winged  human-headed  bulls, 
etc. ;  as  well  as  of  the  stories  about  centaurs,  satyrs, 
and  the  rest. 

Ancient  myths  in  general  thus  acquire  meanings  consider- 
ably different  from  those  ascribed  to  them  by  comparative 
mythologists.  Though  these  last  may  be  in  part  correct, 
yet  if  the  foregoing  argument  is  valid,  they  can  scarcely  be 
correct  in  their  main  outlines.  Indeed,  if  we  read  the  facts 
the  other  way  upward,  regarding  as  secondary  or  additional, 
the  elements  that  are  said  to  be  primary,  while  we  regard 
as  primary,  certain  elements  which  are  considered  as  accre- 
tions of  later  times,  we  shall,  I  think,  be  nearer  the  truth. 

The  current  theory  of  the  myth  is  that  it  has  grown  out 
of  the  habit  of  symbolizing  natural  agents  and  processes,  in 
terms  of  human  personalities  and  actions.  Now,  it  may 
in  the  first  place  be  remarked  that,  though  symbolization  of 
this  kind  is  common  among  civilized  races,  it  is  not  common 
among  races  that  are  the  most  uncivilized.  By  existing 
savages,  surrounding  objects,  motions,  and  changes,  are 
habitually  used  to  convey  ideas  respecting  human  transac- 
tions. It  needs  but  to  read  the  speech  of  an  Indian  chief 
to  see  that  just  as  primitive  men  name  one  another  meta- 
phorically after  surrounding  objects,  so  do  they  metaphori- 
cally describe  one  another's  doings  as  though  they  were  the 
doings  of  natural  objects.  But  assuming  a  contrary  habit 
of  thought  to  be  the  dominant  one,  ancient  myths  are 
explained  as  results  of  the  primitive  tendency  to  symbolize 
inanimate  things  and  their  changes,  by  human  beings  and 
their  doings. 

A  kindred  difficulty  must  be  added.  The  change  of  verbal 
meaning  from  which  the  myth  is  said  to  arise,  is  a  change 
opposite  in  kind  to  that  which  prevails  in  the  earlier  stages 
of  linguistic  development.  It  implies  a  derivation  of  the 
concrete  from  the  abstract ;  whereas  at  first  abstracts  are 
derived  only  from   concretes :    the   concrete   of   abstracts 


THE    ORIGIN   OF   ANIMAL-WORSCIP.  823 

being  a  subsequent  process.  In  the  -words  of  Prof.  Max 
Miiller,  there  are  "dialects  spoken  at  the  present  day  which 
have  no  abstract  nouns,  and  the  more  we  go  back  in  the 
history  of  languages,  the  smaller  we  find  the  number  of  these 
useful  expressions  "  {Chips,  vol.  ii.,  p.  54) ;  or,  as  he  says 
more  recently — "  Ancient  words  and  ancient  thoughts,  for 
both  go  together,  have  not  yet  arrived  at  that  stage  of 
abstraction  in  which,  for  instance,  active  powers,  whether 
natui'al  or  supernatural,  can  be  represented  iu  any  but  a 
personal  and  more  or  less  human  form."  [Fraser's  Maga- 
zine, April,  1870.)  Here  the  concrete  is  represented  as 
original,  and  the  abstract  as  derivative.  Immediately  after- 
ward, however,  Prof.  Max  Miiller,  having  given  as  examples 
of  abstract  nouns,  ''  day  and  night,  spring  and  winter,  dawn 
and  twilight,  storm  and  thunder,''  goes  on  to  argue  that, 
"  as  long  as  people  thought  in  language,  it  was  simply  im- 
possible to  speak  of  morning  or  evening,  of  spring  and 
winter,  without  giving  to  these  conceptions  something  of  an 
individual,  active,  sexual,  and  at  last,  personal  character.'' 
[Chips,  vol.  ii.,  p.  55.)  Here  the  concrete  is  derived  from 
the  abstract — the  personal  conception  is  represented  as 
coming  after  the  impersonal  conception ;  and  through 
such  transformation  of  the  impersonal  into  the  personal. 
Prof.  Max  Miiller  considers  ancient  myths  to  Lave  arisen. 
How  are  these  propositions  reconcilable  ?  One  of  two 
things  must  be  said  : — If  originally  there  were  none  of 
these  abstract  nouns,  then  the  earliest  statements  respecting 
the  daily  course  of  Nature  were  made  in  concrete  terms — 
the  personal  elements  of  the  myth  were  the  primitive  ele- 
ments, and  the  impersonal  expressions  which  are  their 
equivalents  came  later.  If  this  is  not  admitted,  then  it 
must  be  hold  that,  until  after  there  ai-ose  these  abstract 
nouns,  there  were  no  current  statements  at  all  respecting 
these  most  conspicuous  objects  and  changes  which  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  present ;  and  that  the  abstract  nouns 
having  been  somehow  formed,  and  rightly  formed,  and  used 


324  THE    ORIGIN    OP   ANIMAL-WORSHIP. 

witliout  personal  meanings,  afterward  became  personalized 
— a  process  the  reverse  of  that  which,  characterizes  early 
linguistic  progress. 

No  such  contradictions  occur  if  we  interpret  myths  after 
the  manner  that  has  been  indicated.  Nay,  besides  escaping 
contradictions,  we  meet  with  unexpected  solutions.  The 
moment  we  tiy  it,  the  key  unlocks  for  us  with  ease  what 
seems  a  quite  inexplicable  fact,  which  the  current  hypo- 
thesis takes  as  one  of  its  postulates.  Speaking  of  such 
words  as  sky  and  earth,  dew  and  rain,  rivers  and  mountains, 
as  well  as  of  the  abstract  nouns  above  named.  Prof.  Max 
Mijller  says — "  Now  in  ancient  languages  every  one  of  these 
words  had  necessarily  a  termination  expressive  of  gender, 
and  this  naturally  produced  in  the  mind  the  corresponding 
idea  of  sex,  so  that  these  names  received  not  only  an  indi- 
vidual, but  a  sexual  character.  There  was  no  substan- 
tive which  was  not  either  masculine  or  feminine ;  neuters 
being  of  later  growth,  and  distinguishable  chiefly  in  the 
nominative.''  {Chips,  vol.  ii.,  p.  55.)  And  this  alleged 
necessity  for  a  masculine  or  feminine  implication  is  assigned 
as  a  part  of  the  reason  why  these  abstract  nouns  and  collec- 
tive nouns  became  personalized.  But  should  not  a  true 
theory  of  these  first  steps  in  the  evolution  of  thought  and 
language  show  us  how  it  happened  that  men  acquired  the 
seemingly-strange  habit  of  so  framing  their  words  for  sky, 
earth,  dew,  rain,  etc.,  as  to  make  them  indicative  of  sex  ? 
Or,  at  any  rate,  must  it  not  be  admitted  that  an  interpreta- 
tion which,  instead  of  assuming  this  habit  to  be  ''necessary," 
shows  us  how  it  results,  thereby  acquires  an  additional  claim 
to  acceptance  ?  The  interpretation  I  have  indicated  does 
this.  If  men  and  women  are  habitually  nicknamed,  and  if 
defects  of  language  lead  their  descendants  to  regard  them- 
selves as  descendants  of  the  things  from  which  the  names 
were  taken,  then  masculine  or  feminine  genders  will  be 
ascribed  to  these  things  according  as  the  ancchtors  named 
after  them  were  men  or  women.     If  a  beautiful  maiden 


THE    ORIGIN    OP    ANIMAL- WORSHIP.  Sl5 

known  metaphorically  as  "  the  Dawn/'  afterwards  becomes 
the  mother  of  some  distinguished  chief  called  "  the  North 
Wind/'  it  will  i-esult  that  wlien,  in  course  of  time,  the  two 
have  been  mistaken  for  the  actual  dawn  and  the  actual 
north  wind,  these  will,  by  implication,  be  respectively  con- 
Bidered  as  male  and  female. 

Looking,  now,  at  the  ancient  myths  in  general,  their 
seemingly  most  inexplicable  trait  is  the  habitual  combina- 
tion of  alleged  human  ancestry  and  adventures,  with  the 
possession  of  personalities  otherwise  figuring  in  the  heavens 
and  on  the  earth,  with  totally  non-human  attributes.  This 
enormous  incongruity,  not  the  exception  but  the  rule,  the 
current  theory  fails  to  explain.  Suppose  it  to  be  granted 
that  the  great  terrestrial  and  celestial  objects  and  agents 
naturally  become  personalized;  it  does  not  follow  that  each  of 
them  shall  have  a  specific  human  biography.  To  say  of  some 
star  that  he  was  the  son  of  this  king  or  that  hero,  was  born 
in  a  particular  place,  and  when  grown  up  carried  off  the  wife 
of  a  neighbouring  chief,  is  a  gratuitous  multiplication  of  in- 
congruities already  sufficiently  great;  and  is  not  accounted 
for  by  the  alleged  necessary  personalization  of  abstract  and 
collective  nouns.  As  looked  at  from  our  present  stand- 
point, however,  such  traditions  become  quite  natural — nay, 
it  is  clear  that  they  will  necessarily  arise.  When  a  nick- 
name has  become  a  tribal  name,  it  thereby  ceases  to  be 
individually  distinctive;  and,  as  already  said,  the  process 
of  nicknaming  inevitably  continues.  It  commences  afresh 
with  each  child  ;  and  the  nickname  of  each  child  is  both  an 
individual  name  and  a  potential  tribal  name,  which  may 
become  an  actual  tribal  name  if  the  individual  is  sufficiently 
celebrated.  Usually,  then,  there  is  a  double  set  of  distinc- 
tions ;  under  one  of  which  the  individual  is  known  by  his 
ancestral  name,  and  under  the  other  of  which  he  is  known 
by  a  name  suggestive  of  something  peculiar  to  himself  : 
just  as  we  have  seen  happens  among  the  Scotch  clans. 
Consider,  now,  what  will  result  when  language  has  reached 


326  THE    ORIGIN    OF    ANIMAL-WORSHIP. 

a  stage  of  development  sucli  that  it  can  convey  tlie  notion 
of  naming,  and  is  able,  therefore,  to  preserve  traditions  of 
human  ancestry.  It  will  result  that  the  individual  will  be 
known  both  as  the  son  of  such  and  such  a  man  by  a  mother 
whose  name  was  so  and  so,  and  also  as  "  the  Crab  ",  or  "  the 
Bear",or"the  Whirlwind'' — supposingone  of  these  to  be  his 
nickname.  Such  joint  use  of  nicknames  and  proper  names 
occurs  in  every  school.  Now,  clearly,  in  advancing  from  the 
early  state  in  which  ancestors  become  identified  with  the 
objects  they  are  nicknamed  after,  to  the  state  in  which  there 
are  proper  names  that  have  lost  their  metaphorical  mean- 
ings, there  must  be  passed  through  a  state  in  which  proper 
names,  partially  settled  only,  may  or  may  not  be  preserved, 
and  in  which  the  new  nicknames  are  still  liable  to  be  mis- 
taken for  actual  names.  Under  such  conditions  there  will 
arise  (especially  in  the  case  of  a  distinguished  man)  this 
seemingly-impossible  combination  of  human  parentage  with 
the  possession  of  the  non-human,  or  superhuman,  attributes 
of  the  thing  which  gave  the  nickname.  Another  anomaly 
simultaneously  disappears.  The  warrior  may  have,  and 
often  will  have,  a  variety  of  complimentary  nicknames — 
"  the  powerful  one,"  "  the  destroyer,"  etc.  Supposing  his 
leading  nickname  has  been  "  the  Sun  "  ;  then  when  he  comes 
to  be  identified  by  tradition  with  the  sun,  it  will  happen 
that  the  sun  will  acquire  his  alternative  descriptive  titles — 
the  swift  one,  the  lion,  the  wolf — titles  not  obviously  appro- 
priate to  the  sun,  but  quite  appropriate  to  the  warrior. 
Then  there  comes,  too,  an  explanation  of  the  remaining 
trait  of  such  myths.  When  this  identification  of  con- 
spicuous persons,  male  and  female,  with  conspicuous  natural 
agents,  has  become  settled,  there  will  in  due  course  arise 
interpretations  of  the  actions  of  these  agents  in  anthropo- 
morphic terms.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  Endymion  and 
Selene,  metaphorically  named,  the  one  after  the  setting  sun, 
the  other  after  the  moon,  have  had  their  human  individual- 
ities merged  in  those  of  the  sun  and  moon,  through  mis- 


THE    OniGIN    OF    ANIMAL-WORSIIIP.  327 

interpretation  of  metapliors  ;  what  will  happen  ?  The  leger.d 
of  their  loves  having  to  be  reconciled  with  their  celestial 
appearances  and  motions,  these  will  be  spoken  of  as  results 
of  feeling  and  will ;  so  that  when  the  sun  is  going  down  in 
the  west,  while  the  moon  in  mid-heaven  is  following  him, 
the  fact  will  be  expressed  by  saying :  '^  Selene  loves  and 
■\^atches  Eudymion."  Thus  we  obtain  a  consistent  explana- 
tion of  the  myth  without  distorting  it;  and  without  assuming 
that  it  contains  gratuitous  fictions.  We  are  enabled  to 
accept  the  biographical  part  of  it,  if  not  as  literal  fact^  still 
as  having  had  fact  for  its  root.  We  are  helped  to  see  how, 
by  an  inevitable  misinterpretation,  there  grew  out  of  a  more 
or  less  true  tradition,  this  strange  identification  of  its  person- 
ages, with  objects  and  powers  totally  non-human  in  their 
aspects.  And  then  we  are  shown  how,  from  the  attempt  to 
reconcile  in  thought  these  contradictory  elements  of  the 
myth,  there  arose  the  habit  of  ascribing  the  actions  of  these 
non-human  things  to  human  motives. 

One  further  verification  may  be  drawn  from  facts  which 
are  obstacles  to  the  converse  hypothesis.  These  objects 
and  powers,  celestial  and  terrestrial,  which  force  themselves 
most  on  men's  attention,  have  some  of  them  several  proper 
names,  identified  with  those  of  different  individuals,  born 
at  different  places,  and  having  different  sets  of  adventures. 
Thus  we  have  the  sun  variously  known  as  Apollo,  Endy- 
mion,  Helios,  Tithonos,  etc. — personages  having  irreconcil- 
able genealogies.  Such  anomalies  Prof.  Max  Miiller 
apparently  ascribes  to  the  untrustworthiness  of  traditions, 
which  are  "careless  about  contradictions,  or  ready  to  solve 
them  sometimes  by  the  most  atrocious  expedients." 
{CJt'ips,  vol.  ii.,  p.  84.)  But  if  the  evolution  of  the  myth 
has  been  that  above  indicated,  there  exists  no  anomalies 
to  be  got  rid  of :  these  diverse  genealogies  become 
parts  of  the  evidence.  For  we  have  abundant  proof  that 
the  same  objects  furnish  metaphorical  names  of  men  in 
different  tribes.  There  are  Duck  tribes  in  Australia,  iu 
22 


328  THE    ORIGIN    OF    AXIMAL-WOKSHIP. 

Soutli  America,  in  Nnrtb  America.  The  eagle  is  still  a 
totem  among  the  North  Americans,  as  Mr.  McLeunan 
shows  reason  to  conclude  that  it  was  among  the  Egyptians, 
among  the  Jews,  and  among  the  Romans.  Obviously,  for 
reasons  already  assigned,  it  naturally  happened  in  the 
early  stages  of  the  ancient  races,  that  complimentary  com- 
parisons of  their  heroes  to  the  Sun  were  frequently  made. 
What  resulted  ?  The  Sun  having  furnished  names  for 
sundry  chiefs  and  early  founders  of  tribes,  and  local  tradi- 
tions having  severally  identified  them  with  the  Sun,  these 
tribes,  when  they  grew,  spread,  conquerpd,  or  came  other- 
wise into  partial  union,  originated  a  combined  mythology, 
which  necessarily  contained  conflicting  stories  about  the 
Sun-god,  as  about  its  other  leading  personages.  If  the 
North-American  tribes,  among  several  of  which  there  are 
traditions  of  a  Sun-god,  had  developed  a  combined  civiliza- 
tion, there  would  similarly  have  arisen  among  them  a 
mythology  which  ascribed  to  the  Sun  several  different 
proper  names  and  genealogies. 

Let  me  briefly  set  down  the  leading  characters  of  this 
hypothesis  which  give  it  probability. 

True  interpretations  of  all  the  natural  processes,  organic 
and  inorganic,  that  have  gone  on  in  past  times,  habitually 
trace  them  to  causes  still  in  action.  It  is  thus  in  Geology; 
it  is  tlius  in  Biology;  it  is  thus  in  Philology.  Here  we 
find  this  characteristic  repeated.  Nicknaming,  the  inherit- 
ance of  nicknames,  and  to  some  extent,  the  misinterpretation 
of  nicknames,  go  on  among  us  still ;  and  were  surnames 
absent,  language  imperfect,  and  knowledge  as  rudimentary 
as  of  old,  it  is  tolerably  manifest  that  results  would  arise 
like  those  we  have  contemplated. 

A  further  characteristic  of  a  true  cause  is  that  it  accounts 
not  only  for  the  particular  group  of  phenomena  to  be  inter- 
preted, but  also  for  other  groups.  The  cause  here  alleged 
does  this.     It  equally  well  explains  the  worship  of  animals, 


THE    ORIGIN    OP   ANIMAL-WORSHIP.  329 

of  plants,  of  mountains,  of  winds,  of  celestial  bodies,  and 
even  of  appearances  too  vague  to  be  considered  entities. 
It  gives  us  an  intelligible  genesis  of  fetichistic  conceptions 
in  general.  It  furnishes  us  with  a  reason  for  the  practice, 
otherwise  so  unaccountable,  of  moulding  the  words  applied 
to  inanimate  objects  in  such  ways  as  to  imply  masculine 
and  feminine  genders.  It  shows  us  how  there  naturally 
arose  the  worship  of  compound  animals,  and  of  monsters 
half  man,  half  brute.  And  it  shows  us  why  the  worship  of 
purely  anthropomorphic  deities  came  later,  when  language 
had  so  far  developed  that  it  could  preserve  in  tradition  the 
distinction  between  proper  names  and  nicknames. 

A  further  verification  of  this  view  is,  that  it  conforms  to 
the  general  law  of  evolution  :  showing  us  how,  out  of  one 
simple,  vague,  aboriginal  form  of  belief,  there  have  arisen, 
by  continuous  differentiations,  the  many  heterogeneous  forms 
of  belief  which  have  existed  and  do  exist.  The  desire  to 
propitiate  the  other  self  of  the  dead  ancestor,  displayed 
among  savage  tribes,  dominantly  manifested  by  the  early 
historic  races,  by  the  Peruvians  and  Mexicans,  by  the 
Chinese  at  the  present  time,  and  to  a  considerable  degree 
by  ourselves  (for  what  else  is  the  wish  to  do  that  which  a 
lately-deceased  parent  was  known  to  have  desired  ?)  has 
been  the  universal  first  form  of  religious  belief;  and  from 
it  have  grown  up  the  many  divergent  beliefs  which  have 
been  referred  to. 

Let  me  add,  as  a  further  reason  for  adopting  this  view, 
that  it  immensely  diminishes  the  apparently-great  contrast 
between  early  modes  of  thought  and  our  own  mode  of 
thought.  Doubtless  the  aboriginal  man  differs  considerably 
from  us,  both  in  intellect  and  feeling.  But  such  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  facts  as  helps  us  to  bridge  over  the  gap, 
derives  additional  likelihood  from  doing  this.  The  hypo- 
thesis I  have  sketched  out  enables  us  to  see  that  primitive 
ideas  are  not  so  gratuitously  absurd  as  we  suppose,  and  also 


830  THE    ORIGIN    OP   ANIMAL-WOKSHIP. 

enables  us  to  reliabilitate  the  ancient  myth  with  far  less 
distortion  than  at  first  sight  appears  possible. 

These  views  I  hope  to  develop  in  the  first  part  of  The 
Principles  of  Sociology.  The  large  mass  of  evidence  which 
I  shall  be  able  to  give  in  support  of  the  hypothesis^  joined 
with  the  solutions  it  will  be  shown  to  yield  of  many  minor 
problems  Avhich  I  have  passed  over,  will,  I  think,  then  give 
to  it  a  still  greater  probability  than  it  seems  now  to  have. 


MORALS  AND   MORAL  SENTIMENTS. 

[^First  2'>'ul>lished  in  The  Fortnightly  Review/or  April,  1S7L] 

If  a  writer  who  discusses  unsettled  questions  takes  up 
every  gauntlet  thrown  down  to  him,  polemical  writing  will 
absorb  much  of  his  energy.  Having  a  power  of  work 
which  unfortunately  does  not  suffice  for  executing  with 
anything  like  due  rapidity  the  task  I  have  undertaken,  I 
have  made  it  a  policy  to  avoid  controversy  as  much  as 
possible,  even  at  the  cost  of  being  seriously  misunderstood. 
Hence  it  resulted  that  when  in  Macmillan's  Magazine,  for 
July,  1869,  Mr.  Richard  Hutton  published,  under  the  title 
"  A  Questionable  Parentage  for  Morals,"  a  criticism  on  a 
doctrine  of  mine,  I  decided  to  let  his  misrepresentations 
pass  unnoticed  until,  in  the  course  of  my  work,  I  arrived 
at  the  stage  where,  by  a  full  exposition  of  this  doctrine, 
they  would  be  set  aside.  It  did  not  occur  to  me  that,  in 
the  meantime,  these  erroneous  statements,  accepted  as  true 
statements,  would  be  repeated  by  other  writers,  and  my 
views  commented  upon  as  untenable.  This,  however,  has 
happened.  In  more  periodicals  than  one,  I  have  seen  it 
asserted  that  Mr.  Hutton  has  effectually  disposed  of  my 
hypothesis.  Supposing  that  this  hypothesis  has  been 
rightly  expressed  by  Mr.  Hutton,  Sir  John  Lubbock,  in 
iiis  Origin  of  Givllisation,  &c.,  has  been  led  to  express  a 
partial  dissent;    which    I    think  he  Avonld  not   have    ex- 


332  MOKAL.S    AND    MOr.AL    SKXTIMEXTS. 

prossod  had  my  own  exposition  been  before  bim.  Mr. 
Mivart,  too,  in  bis  recent  Genesis  of  Species,  bas  been 
similarly  betrayed  into  misapprehensions.  And  now  Sir 
Alexander  Grant,  following  the  same  lead,  has  conveyed  to 
tlio  readers  of  the  Fortnightly  Review  another  of  these 
conceptions,  which  is  but  very  partially  true.  Thus  I  find 
myself  compelled  to  say  as  much  as  will  serve  to  prevent 
further  spread  of  the  mischief. 

If  a  general  doctrine  concerning  a  bighly-involved  class 
of  phenomena  could  be  adequately  presented  in  a  single 
paragraph  of  a  letter,  the  writing  of  books  would  be 
superfluous.  In  the  brief  exposition  of  certain  ethical 
doctrines  held  by  me,  which  is  given  in  Professor  Bain's 
Mental  and  Moral  Science,  it  is  stated  tbat  they  are — 
"  as  yet,  nowhere  fully  expressed.  They  form  part  of  the  more  general  doctrine 
of  Evolution  which  he  is  engaged  in  working  out ;  and  they  are  at  present 
to  be  gathered  only  from  scattered  passages.  It  is  true  that,  in  his  first 
•work,  Social  Statics,  he  presented  what  he  then  regarded  as  a  tolerably 
complete  view  of  one  division  of  Morals.  But  without  abandoning  this 
view,  he  now  regards  it  as  inadequate — more  especially  in  respect  of 
its  basis." 

Mr.  Hutton,  however,  taking  the  bare  enunciation  of 
one  part  of  this  basis,  deals  with  it  critically  ;  and,  in  the 
absence  of  any  exposition  by  me,  sets  forth  what  he  sup- 
poses to  be  my  grounds  for  it,  and  proceeds  to  show  that 
they  are  unsatisfactory. 

If,  in  his  anxiety  to  suppress  what  he  doubtless  regards 
as  a  pernicious  doctrine,  Mr.  Hutton  could  not  wait  until 
I  had  explained  myself,  it  might  have  been  expected  that 
he  would  use  whatever  information  was  to  be  had  concern- 
ing it.  So  far. from  seeking  out  such  information,  however, 
he  has,  in  a  way  for  which  I  cannot  account,  ignored  the 
information  immediately  before  him. 

The  title  which  Mr.  Hutton  has  chosen  for  his  criticism 
is,  "  A  Questionable  Parentage  for  Morals.''  Now  he  has 
ample  means  of  knowing  that  I  allege  a  primary  basis  of 


MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS.  333 

Morals,  quite  independent  of  tliat  which  he  describes  and 
rejects.  I  do  not  refer  merely  to  the  fact  that  having, 
when  he  reviewed  Social  Statics  *  expressed  his  very 
decided  dissent  from  this  primary  basis,  be  must  have 
been  aware  that  I  alleged  it;  for  he  may  say  that  in  the 
many  years  which  have  since  elapsed  he  had  forgotten  all 
about  it.  But  I  refer  to  the  distinct  enunciation  of  this 
primary  basis  in  that  letter  to  Mr.  Mill  from  which  he 
quotes.  In  a  preceding  paragraph  of  the  letter,  I  have 
explained  that,  while  I  accept  utilitarianism  in  the  abstract, 
I  do  not  accept  that  current  utilitarianism  which  recognizes 
for  the  guidance  of  conduct  nothing  beyond  empirical 
generalizations ;  and  I  have  contended  that — 

"  Morality,  properly  so-called — the  science  of  right  conduct — has  for  its 
object  to  determine  how  and  why  certain  modes  of  conduct  are  detrimental, 
and  certain  other  modes  beneficial.  These  good  and  bad  results  cannot  be 
accidental,  but  must  be  necessary  consequences  of  the  constitution  of 
things  ;  and  I  conceive  it  to  be  the  business  of  Moral  Science  to  deduce, 
from  the  laws  of  life  and  the  conditions  of  existence,  what  kinds  of  action 
necessarily  tend  to  produce  happiness,  and  what  kinds  to  produce  unhap- 
piness.  Having  done  this,  its  deductions  are  to  be  recognised  as  laws  of 
conduct;  and  are  to  be  conformed  to  irrespective  of  a  direct  estimation  of 
happiness  or  misery." 

Nor  is  this  the  only  enunciation  of  what  I  conceive  to  be 
the  primary  basis  of  morals,  contained  in  this  same  letter. 
A  subsequent  paragi-aph  separated  by  four  lines  only  from 
that  which  Mr.  Hutton  extracts,  commences  thus  : — 

"  Progressing  civilization,  which  is  of  necessity  a  succession  of  com- 
promises between  old  and  new,  requires  a  perpetual  re-adjustment  of  the 
compromise  between  the  ideal  and  the  practicable  in  social  arrangements : 
to  which  end,  both  elements  of  the  compromise  must  be  kept  in  view.  If  it 
is  true  that  pure  rectitude  prescribes  a  system  of  things  far  too  good  for 
men  as  they  are,  it  is  not  less  true  that  mere  expediency  does4iot  of  itself 
tend  to  establish  a  system  of  things  any  better  than  that  which  exists. 
While  absolute  morality  owes  to  expediency  the  checks  which  prevent  it 
from  rushing  into  Utopian  absurdities,  expediency  is  indebted  to  absolute 
morality  for  all  stimulus  to  improvement.  Granted  that  we  are  chiefly 
interested  in  ascertainmg  what  is  relatively  right,  it  still  follows  that  wa 

•  See  Prospective  Revieiv  for  January,  1852. 


334  MORALS  AND  MORAL  SENTIMENTS. 

must  first  consider  what  is  absolutely  right ;  since  the  one  conception  pre- 
supposes the  other." 

I  do  not  see  how  there  could  well  be  a  more  emphatic 
assertion  that  there  exists  a  primary  basis  of  morals  inde- 
pendent of,  and  in  a  sense  antecedent  to,  that  which  is 
furnished  by  experiences  of  utility;  and  consequent! 3% 
independent  of,  and,  in  a  sense  antecedent  to,  those  moral 
sentiments  which  I  conceive  to  be  g-enerated  by  such  ex- 
periences. Yet  no  one  could  gather  from  Mr.  Hutton's 
article  that  I  assert  this;  or  would  even  find  reasons  for 
a  faint  suspicion  that  I  do  so.  From  the  reference  made 
to  my  further  views,  he  would  infer  my  acceptance  of  that 
empirical  utilitarianism  which  I  have  expressly  repudiated. 
And  the  title  which  Mr.  Hutton  gives  to  his  paper  clearly 
asserts,  by  implication,  that  I  recognize  no  "  parentage  for 
morals "  beyond  that  of  the  accumulation  and  organiza- 
tion of  the  effects  of  experience.  I  cannot  believe  that 
Mr.  Hutton  intended  to  convey  this  erroneous  impression. 
He  was,  I  suppose,  too  much  absorbed  in  contemplating 
the  proposition  he  combats  to  observe,  or,  at  least,  to 
attach  any  weight  to,  the  propositions  which  accompany  it. 
But  I  am  sorry  he  did  not  perceive  the  mischief  he  was 
likely  to  do  me  by  spreading  this  one-sided  statement. 

I  pass  now  to  the  particular  question  at  issue — not  the 
'^  parentage  for  morals,"  but  the  parentage  of  moral  senti- 
ments. In  describing  my  view  on  this  more  special  doctrine, 
Mr.  Hutton  has  similarly,  I  regret  to  say,  neglected  the 
data  which  would  have  helped  him  to  draw  an  approxi- 
mately true  outline  of  it.  It  cannot  well  be  that  the 
existence  of  such  data  was  unknown  to  him.  They  are 
contained  in  the  Principles  of  Psycholorjy  ;  and  Mr.  Hutton 
reviewed  that  work  when  it  was  first  published.*  In  a 
chtipter  on  the  Feelings,  which  occurs  near  the  end  of  it, 

*  His  criticism  will  be  found  in  the  National  Review  for  January,  1856^ 
under  the  title  "  Atheism." 


MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS.  33o 

there  is  sketched  out  a  process  of  evokition  by  no  means 
Hke  that  which  Mr.  Hutfcon  indicates ;  and  had  he  turned 
to  that  chapter  he  wouhi  have  seen  that  his  description  of 
the  genesis  of  moral  sentiments  out  of  organized  expe- 
riences is  not  such  a  one  as  I  should  have  given.  Let  me 
quote  a  passage  from  that  chapter. 

"  Not  only  are  those  emotions  which  form  the  immediate  stimuli  to 
actions,  thus  explicable  ;  but  the  like  explanation  applies  to  the  emotions  that 
leave  the  subject  of  them  comparatively  passive:  as,  for  instance,  the 
emotion  produced  by  beautiful  scenery.  The  gradually  increasing  complexity 
in  the  groups  of  sensations  and  ideas  co-ordinated,  ends  in  the  co-ordination 
of  those  vast  aggregations  of  them  which  a  grand  landscape  excites  and 
suggests.  The  infant  taken  into  the  midst  of  mountains,  is  totally  unaffected 
by  them;  but  is  delighted  with  the  small  group  of  attributes  and  relations 
presented  in  a  toy.  The  child  can  appreciate,  and  be  pleased  with,  the 
more  complicated  relations  of  household  objects  and  localities,  the  garden, 
the  field,  and  the  street.  But  it  is  only  in  youth  and  mature  age,  when 
individual  things  and  small  assemblages  of  them  have  become  familiar  and 
automatically  cognizable,  that  those  immense  assemblages  which  landscapes 
present  can  be  adequately  grasped,  and  the  highly  aggregated  states  of  con- 
sciousness produced  by  them,  experienced.  Then,  however,  the  various 
minor  groups  of  states  that  have  been  in  earlier  days  severally  produced 
by  trees,  by  fields,  by  streams,  by  cascades,  by  rocks,  by  precijiices,  by 
mountains,  by  clouds,  are  aroused  together.  Along  with  the  sensations 
immediately  received,  there  are  partially  excited  the  myriads  of  sensations 
that  have  been  in  times  past  received  from  objects  such  as  those  presented  ; 
further,  there  are  partially  excited  the  various  incidental  feelings  that  were 
experienced  on  all  these  countless  past  occasions ;  and  there  are  probably 
also  excited  certain  deeper,  but  now  vague  combinations  of  states,  that 
were  organized  in  the  race  during  barbarous  times,  when  its  pleasurable 
activities  were  chiefly  among  the  woods  and  waters.  And  out  of  all  these 
excitations,  some  of  them  actual  but  most  of  them  nascent,  is  composed  the 
ciuotion  which  a  fine  landscape  produces  in  us." 

It  is,  I  think,  amply  manifest  that  the  processes  here 
indicated  are  not  to  be  taken  as  intellectual  processes — not 
as  processes  in  which  recognized  relations  between  pleasures 
and  their  antecedents,  or  intelligent  adaptations  of  means 
to  ends,  form  the  dominant  elements.  The  state  of  mind 
pioduced  by  an  aggregate  of  picturesque  objects  is  not 
one  resolvable  into  propositions.  The  sentiment  does  not 
contain  within  itsc4f  any  consciousness  of  causes  and  con- 
sequences of  happiness.     ^Phe  vague  recollections  of   other 


336  MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS. 

beautiful  scenes  and  otlier  delightful  days  whicli  it  dimly 
rouses,  are  not  aroused  because  of  any  rational  co-ordina- 
tions of  ideas  that  have  been  formed  in  bygone  years.  Mr. 
Hutton,  however,  assumes  that  in  speaking  of  the  genesis 
of  moral  feelings  as  due  to  inherited  experiences  of  the  plea- 
sures and  pains  caused  by  certain  modes  of  conduct,  I  am 
speaking  of  reasoned-out  experiences — experiences  con- 
sciously accumulated  and  generalized.  He  overlooks  the  fact 
that  the  genesis  of  emotions  is  distinguished  from  the  genesis 
of  ideas  in  this ;  that  whereas  the  ideas  are  composed  of 
elements  that  are  simple,  definitely  related,  and  (in  the 
case  of  general  ideas)  constantly  related,  emotions  are 
composed  of  enormously  complex  aggregates  of  elements 
that  are  never  twice  alike,  and  which  stand  in  relations 
that  are  never  twice  alike.  The  difference  in  the  re- 
sulting modes  of  consciousness  is  this : — In  the  genesis 
of  an  idea  the  successive  experiences,  be  they  of  sounds, 
colours,  touches,  tastes,  or  be  they  of  the  special  objects 
which  combine  many  of  these  into  groups,  have  so  much 
in  common  that  each,  when  it  occurs,  can  be  definitely 
thought  of  as  like  those  which  preceded  it.  But  in  the 
genesis  of  an  emotion  the  successive  experiences  so  far 
differ  that  each  of  them,  when  it  occurs,  suggests  past 
experiences  which  are  not  specifically  similar,  but  have 
only  a  general  similarity  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  it 
suggests  benefits  or  evils  in  past  experience  which  like- 
wise are  various  in  their  special  natures,  though  they  have  a 
certain  community  in  general  nature.  Hence  it  results  that 
the  consciousness  aroused  is  a  multitudinous,  confused  con- 
sciousness, in  which,  along  with  a  certain  kind  of  combina- 
tion among  the  impressions  received  from  without,  there 
is  a  vague  cloud  of  ideal  combinations  akin  to  them,  and  a 
vague  mass  of  ideal  feelings  of  pleasure  or  pain  which  were 
associated  with  these.  We  have  abundant  proof  that  feel- 
ings grow  up  without  reference  to  recognized  causes  and 
consequences,  and  without  the  possessor  of  them  being  able 


MORALS    AND    MORAL    SKNTIMENTS.  337 

to  say  wTiy  they  have  grown  up ;  though  analysis,  neverthe- 
less, shows  that  they  have  been  formed  out  of  conuected 
experiences.  The  familiar  fact  that  a  kind  of  jam  which 
was,  during  childhood,  repeatedly  taken  after  medicine, 
may  become,  by  simple  association  of  sensations,  so  nauseous 
that  it  cannot  be  tolerated  in  after-life,  illustrates  clearly 
the  way  in  which  repugnances  may  be  established  by 
habitual  association  of  feelings,  without  any  belief  in  causal 
connexion;  or  rather,  in  spite  of  the  knowledge  that  there  is 
BO  causal  connexion.  Similaz'ly  with  pleasurable  emotions. 
The  cawing  of  rooks  is  not  in  itself  an  agreeable  sound  : 
musically  considered,  it  is  very  much  the  contrary.  Yet 
the  cawing  of  rooks  usually  produces  in  people  feelings  of 
a  grateful  kind — feelings  which  most  of  them  suppose  to 
result  fx'om  the  quality  of  the  sound  itself.  Only  the  few 
who  are  given  to  self-analysis  are  aware  that  the  cawing  of 
rooks  is  agreeable  to  them  because  it  has  been  connected 
with  countless  of  their  greatest  gratifications — with  the 
gathering  of  wild  flowers  in  childhood ;  with  Saturday- 
afternoon  excursions  in  school-boy  days  ;  with  midsummer 
holidays  in  the  country,  when  books  were  thrown  aside  and 
lessons  were  replaced  by  games  and  adventures  in  the 
fields  ;  with  fresh,  sunny  mornings  in  after-years,  when  a 
walking  excursion  was  an  immense  relief  from  toil.  As  it 
is,  this  sound,  though  not  causally  related  to  all  these 
multitudinous  and  varied  past  delights,  but  only  often 
associated  with  them,  can  no  more  be  heard  without  rousing 
a  dim  consciousness  of  these  delights,  than  the  voice  of  an 
old  friend  unexpectedly  coming  into  the  house  can  be  heard 
without  suddenly  raising  a  wave  of  that  feeling  that  has 
resulted  from  the  pleasures  of  past  companionship.  If  we 
are  to  understand  the  genesis  of  emotions,  either  in  the 
individual  or  in  the  race,  we  must  take  account  of  this 
all-important  process.  Mr.  Hutton,  however,  apparently 
overlooking  it,  and  not  having  reminded  himself,  by  refer- 
ring to  the  Principles  cf  Psychology,  that  I  insist  upon  itj 


338  MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS. 

represents  my  hypothesis  to  be  that  a  certain  sentiment 
results  from  the  consolidation  of  intellectual  conclusions  ! 
He  speaks  of  me  as  believing  that  "what  seems  to  us  now 
the  '  necessary '  intuitions  and  a  'priori  assumptions  of 
human  nature,  are  likely  to  prove,  when  scientifically 
analysed,  nothing  but  a  similar  conglomeration  of  our 
ancestors'  best  observations  and  most  useful  empirical  rules." 
He  supposes  me  to  think  that  men  having,  in  past  times, 
come  to  see  that  truthfulness  was  useful,  ^'the  habit  of 
approving  truth -speaking  and  fidelity  to  engagements, 
which  was  first  based  on  this  ground  of  utility,  became  so 
rooted,  that  the  utilitarian  ground  of  it  was  forgotten,  and 
we  find  ourselves  springing  to  the  belief  in  truth-speaking 
and  fidelity  to  engagements  from  an  inherited  tendency." 
Similarly  throughout,  Mr.  Hutton  has  so  used  the  word 
"  utility,^'  and  so  interpreted  it  on  my  behalf,  as  to  make 
me  appear  to  mean  that  moral  sentiment  is  formed  out  of 
cvnscious  generalizations  respecting  what  is  beneficial  and 
what  detrimental.  Were  such  my  hypothesis,  his  criticisms 
would  be  very  much  to  the  point ;  but  as  such  is  not  my 
hypothesis,  they  fall  to  the  ground.  The  experiences  of 
utility  I  refer  to  are  those  which  become  registered,  not  as 
distinctly  recognized  connexions  between  certain  kinds  of 
acts  and  certain  kinds  of  remote  results,  but  those  which 
become  registered  in  the  shape  of  associations  between 
groups  of  feelings  that  have  often  recurred  together, 
though  the  relation  between  them  has  not  been  consciously 
generalized — associations  the  origin  of  which  may  be  as 
little  perceived  as  is  the  origin  of  the  pleasure  given  by 
the  sounds  of  a  rookery ;  but  which,  nevertheless,  have 
arisen  in  the  course  of  daily  converse  with  things,  and  serve 
as  incentives  or  deterrents. 

In  the  paragraph  which  Mr.  Hutton  has  extracted  from 
my  letter  to  Mr.  Mill,  I  have  indicated  an  analogy  between 
those  effects  of  emotional  experiences  out  of  which  I  believe 
moral  sentiments  have  been  developed,  and  those  effects  of 


MORALS    AND    MOKAL    SENTIMENTS.  339 

intellectual  experiences  out  of  wliicli  I  believe  space-intui- 
tions have  been  developed.  Rightly  considering  that  the 
first  of  these  hypotheses  cannot  stand  if  the  last  is  dis- 
proved, Mr.  Hutton  has  directed  part  of  his  attack  against 
this  last.  But  would  it  not  have  been  well  if  he  had 
referred  to  the  Principles  of  Psychology,  where  this  last 
hypothesis  is  set  forth  at  length,  before  criticising  it  ? 
Would  it  not  have  been  well  to  give  an  abstract  of  my  own 
description  of  the  process,  instead  of  substituting  what  he 
supposes  my  description  must  be  ?  Any  one  who  turns  to 
the  Principles  of  Psychology  (first  edition,  pp.  218-245),  and 
reads  the  tAvo  chapters,  "The  Perception  of  Body  as  present- 
ing Statical  Attributes  ",  and  "  The  Perception  of  Space  " , 
will  find  that  Mr.  Hutton's  account  of  my  view  on  this 
matter  has  given  him  no  notion  of  the  view  as  it  is  expressed 
by  me ;  and  will,  perhaps,  be  less  inclined  to  smile  than 
he  was  when  he  read  Mr.  Hutton's  account.  I  cannot  hero 
do  more  than  thus  imply  the  invalidity  of  such  part  of  Mr. 
Hutton's  argument  as  proceeds  upon  this  incorrect  repre- 
sentation. The  pages  which  would  be  required  for  properly 
explaining  the  doctrine  that  space-intuitions  result  from  or- 
ganized experiences  may  be  better  used  for  explaining  this 
analogous  doctrine  at  present  before  us.  This  I  will  now 
endeavour  to  do ;  not  indirectly  by  correcting  misapprehen- 
sions, but  directly  by  an  exposition  which  shall  be  as  brief 
as  the  extremely  involved  nature  of  the  process  allows. 

An  infant  in  arms,  when  old  enough  to  gaze  at  objects 
around  with  some  vague  recognition,  smiles  in  response  to 
the  laughing  face  and  soft  caressing  voice  of  its  mother. 
Let  there  come  some  one  who,  with  an  angry  face,  speaks 
to  it  in  loud,  harsh  tones.  The  smile  disappears,  the 
features  contract  into  an  expression  of  pain,  and,  beginning 
to  cry,  it  turns  away  its  head,  and  makes  such  movements 
of  escape  as  are  possible.  What  is  the  meaning  of  these 
facts  ?  Why  does  not  the  frown  make  it  smile,  and  the 
mother's  laugh  make  it  weep  ?     There  is  but  one  answer. 


310  MOT^ALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS. 

Already  in  its  developing-  brain  tliere  is  coming'  into  play 
the  structure  through  which  one  cluster  of  visual  and 
auditory  impressions  excites  pleasurable  feelings^  and  the 
structure  through  which  another  cluster  of  visual  and 
auditory  impressions  excites  painful  feelings.  The  infant 
knows  no  more  about  the  relation  existing  between  a 
ferocious  expression  of  face,  and  the  evils  which  may  follovv 
perception  of  it,  than  the  young  bird  just  out  of  its  nest 
knows  of  the  possible  pain  and  death  which  may  be  inflicted 
by  a  man  coming  towards  it;  and  as  certainly  in  the  one 
case  as  in  the  other,  the  alaroa  felt  is  due  to  a  partially- 
established  nervous  structure.  "Why  does  this  partially- 
established  nervous  structure  betray  its  presence  thus  early 
in  the  human  being  ?  Simply  because,  in  the  past  expe- 
riences of  the  human  race,  smiles  and  gentle  tones  in  those 
around  have  been  the  habitual  accompaniments  of  plea- 
surable feelings;  while  pains  of  many  kinds,  immediate  and 
more  or  less  remote,  have  been  continually  associated  with 
the  impressions  received  from  knit  brows,  and  set  teeth,  and 
grating  voice.  Much  deeper  down  than  the  history  of  the 
human  race  must  we  go  to  find  the  beginnings  of  these 
connexions.  The  appearances  and  sounds  which  excite  in 
the  infant  a  vague  dread,  indicate  danger  ;  and  do  so 
because  they  are  the  physiological  accompaniments  of 
destructive  action — some  of  them  common  to  man  and 
inferior  mammals,  and  consequently  understood  by  inferior 
mammals,  as  every  puppy  shows  us.  What  we  call  the 
natural  language  of  anger,  is  due  to  a  partial  contraction  of 
those  muscles  which  actual  combat  would  call  into  play ; 
and  all  marks  of  irritation,  down  to  that  passing  shade  over 
the  brow  which  accompanies  slight  annoyance,  are  incipient 
stages  of  these  same  contractions.  Conversely  with  the 
natural  language  of  pleasure,  and  of  that  state  of  mind 
which  we  call  amicable  feeling  :  this,  too,  has  a  physiolo- 
gical interpretation.* 

•  Hereafter  I  hope  to  elucidate  at  length  these  phenomena  of  expressiozv 


MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS.  841 

Let  ns  pass  now  from  the  infant  in  arms  to  the  cliildren 
in  the  nursery.  What  have  the  experiences  of  each  been 
doing"  in  aid  of  the  emotional  development  we  are  consider- 
ing ?  While  its  limbs  have  been  growing  more  agile  by 
exercise,  its  manipulative  skill  increasing  by  practice,  its 
perceptions  of  objects  growing  by  use  quicker,  more  accurate, 
more  comprehensive;  the  associations  between  these  two 
sets  of  impressions  received  from  those  around,  and  the 
pleasures  and  pains  received  along  with  them,  or  after  them, 
have  been  by  frequent  repetition  made  stronger,  and  their 
adjustments  better.  The  dim  sense  of  pain  and  the  vague 
glow  of  delight  which  the  infant  felt,  have,  in  the  urchin, 
severally  taken  shapes  that  are  more  definite.  The  angry 
voice  of  a  nursemaid  no  longer  arouses  only  a  formless 
feeling  of  dread,  but  also  a  specific  idea  of  the  slap  that 
may  follow.  The  frown  on  the  face  of  a  bigger  brother, 
along  with  the  primitive,  indefinable  sense  of  ill,  brings  the 
ideas  of  ills  that  are  definable  as  kicks,  and  culfs,  and 
pullings  of  hair,  and  losses  of  toys.  The  faces  of  parents, 
looking  now  sunny,  now  gloomy,  have  grown  to  be  respec- 
tively associated  with  multitudinous  forms  of  gratification 
and  multitudinous  forms  of  discomfort  or  privation.  Hence 
these  appearances  and  sounds,  which  imply  amity  or  enmity 
in  those  around,  become  symbolic  of  happiness  and  misery  ; 
so  that  eventually,  perception  of  the  one  set  or  the  other 
can  scarcely  occur  without  raising  a  wave  of  pleasurable 
feeling  or  of  painful  feeling.  The  body  of  this  wave  is  still 
substantially  of  the  same  nature  as  it  was  at  first ;  for 
though  in  each  of  these  multitudinous  experiences  a  special 
set  of  facial  and  vocal  signs  has  been  connected  with  a 
special  set  of  pleasures  or  pains ;  yet  since  these  pleasures 
or  pains  have  been  immensely  varied  in  their  kinds  and 
combinations,  and  since  the  signs  that  preceded  them  were 

For  the  present,  I  can  refer  only  to  such  further  indications  as  are  contained 
in  two  essays  on  "  The  Physiology  of  Laughter "  and  "  The  Origin  and 
Function  of  Music." 


342  MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS. 

in  no  two  cases  quite  alike,  it  results  tliat  even  to  the  end 
tlie  consciousness  produced  remains  as  vague  as  it  is  volu- 
minous. The  thousands  of  partially-aroused  ideas  resulting 
from  past  experiences  are  massed  together  and  superposed, 
so  as  to  form  an  aggregate  in  which  nothing  is  distinct,  but 
■which  has  the  character  of  being  pleasurable  or  painful 
according  to  the  nature  of  its  original  components  :  the 
chief  difference  between  this  developed  feeling  and  the 
feeling  aroused  in  the  infant  being,  that  on  bright  or  dark 
background  forming  the  body  of  it,  may  now  be  sketched 
out  in  thought  the  particular  pleasures  or  pains  which  the 
particular  circumstances  suggest  as  likely. 

What  must  be  the  working  of  this  process  under  the 
conditions  of  aboriginal  life  ?  The  emotions  given  to  the 
young  savage  by  the  natural  language  of  love  and  hate  in 
the  members  of  his  tribe,  gain  first  a  partial  definiteness  in 
respect  to  his  intercourse  with  his  family  and  playmates ; 
and  he  learns  by  experience  the  utility,  in  so  far  as  his  own 
ends  are  concerned,  of  avoiding  courses  which  call  from 
others  manifestations  of  auger,  and  taking  courses  which  call 
fromtheramanifestations  of  pleasure.  Not thathe consciously 
generalizes.  He  does  not  at  that  age,  probably  not  at  any 
age,  formulate  his  experiences  in  the  general  principle  that 
it  is  well  for  him  to  do  things  which  bring  smiles,  and  to 
avoid  doing  things  which  bring  frowns.  What  happens  is 
that  having,  in  the  way  shown,  inherited  this  connexion 
between  the  perception  of  anger  in  others  and  the  feeling 
of  dread,  and  having  discovered  that  certain  acts  of  his 
bring  on  this  auger,  he  cannot  subsequently  think  of  com- 
mitting one  of  these  acts  without  thinking  of  the  resulting 
anger,  and  feeling  more  or  less  of  the  resulting  dread.  He 
has  no  thought  of  the  utility  or  inutility  of  the  act  itself:  the 
deterrent  is  the  mainly  vague,  but  partially  definite,  fear  of 
evil  that  may  follow.  So  understood,  the  deterring  emotion 
is  one  which  has  grown  out  of  experiences  of  utility,  using 
that  word  in  its  ethical  sense;    and  if  wo  ask  why   this 


MORALS   AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS.  343 

dreaded  anger  is  called  fortli  from  others^  we  shall  habitually 
find  that  it  is  because  the  forbidden  act  entails  pain  some- 
where— is  negatived  by  utility.  On  passing  from  domestic 
injunctions  to  injunctions  current  in  the  tribe,  we  see  no  less 
clearly  how  these  emotions  produced  by  approbation  and 
reprobation  come  to  be  connected  in  experience  with  actions 
which  are  beneficial  to  the  tribe,  and  actions  which  are 
detrimental  to  tbe  tribe ;  and  how  there  consequently  grow 
up  incentives  to  the  one  class  of  actions  and  prejudices 
against  the  other  class.  From  early  boyhood  the  young 
savage  hears  recounted  the  daring  deeds  of  bis  chief — hears 
them  in  words  of  praise,  and  sees  all  faces  glowing  with, 
admiration.  From  time  to  time  also  he  listens  while  some 
one's  cowardice  is  described  in  tones  of  scorn,  and  with 
contemptuous  metaphors,  and  sees  him  meet  with  derision 
and  insult  whenever  he  appears.  That  is  to  say,  one  of  the 
things  that  come  to  be  associated  in  his  mind  with  smiling 
faces,  which  are  symbolical  of  pleasures  in  general,  is 
courage ;  and  one  of  the  things  that  come  to  be  associated 
in  his  mind  with  frowns  and  other  marks  of  enmity,  which 
form  his  symbol  of  unhappiness,  is  cowardice.  These 
feelings  are  not  formed  in  him  because  he  has  reasoned  his 
way  to  the  truth  that  courage  is  useful  to  the  tribe,  and,  by 
implication,  to  himself,  or  to  the  truth  that  cowardice  is  a 
cause  of  evil.  In  adult  life  he  may  perhaps  see  this;  but 
he  certainly  does  not  see  it  at  the  time  when  bravery  is 
thus  joined  in  his  consciousness  with  all  that  is  good,  and 
cowardice  with  all  that  is  bad.  Similarly  there  are  pro- 
duced in  him  feelings  of  inclination  or  repugnance  towards 
other  lines  of  conduct  that  have  become  established  or  inter- 
dicted, because  they  are  beneficial  or  injurious  to  the  tribe  ; 
though  neither  the  young  uor  the  adults  know  why  they 
have  become  established  or  interdicted.  Instance  the 
praiseworthiness  of  wife-stealing,  and  the  viciousness  of 
marrying  within  the  tribe. 

We  may  now  ascend  a  stage  to  an  order  of  incentives 
23 


344  MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS. 

and  restraints  derived  from  these.  The  primitive  belief  is 
that  every  dead  man  becomes  a  demon,  who  is  often  some- 
where at  hand,  may  at  any  moment  return,  may  give  aid  or 
do  mischief,  and  has  to  be  continually  propitiated.  Hence 
among  other  agents  whose  approbation  or  reprobation  are 
contemplated  by  the  savage  as  consequences  of  his  conduct, 
are  the  spirits  of  his  ancestors.  When  a  child  he  is  told  of 
their  deeds,  now  in  triumphant  tones,  now  in  whispers  of 
horror;  and  the  instilled  belief  that  they  may  inflict  some 
vaguely-imagined  but  fearful  evil,  or  give  some  great  help, 
becomes  a  powerful  incentive  or  deterrent.  Especially 
does  this  happen  when  the  story  is  of  a  chief,  distinguished 
for  his  strength,  his  ferocity,  his  persistence  in  that  revenge 
on  enemies  which  the  experiences  of  the  savage  make  him 
regard  as  beneficial  and  virtuous.  The  consciousness  that 
such  a  chief,  dreaded  by  neighbouring  tribes,  and  dreaded, 
too,  by  members  of  his  own  tribe,  may  reappear  and  punish 
those  who  have  disregarded  his  injunctions,  becomes  a 
powerful  motive.  But  it  is  clear,  in  the  first  place,  that  the 
imagined  anger  and  the  imagined  satisfaction  of  this  deified 
chief,  are  simply  transfigured  forms  of  the  anger  and  satis- 
faction displayed  by  those  around;  and  that  the  feelings 
accompanying  such  imaginations  have  the  same  original 
root  in  the  experiences  which  have  associated  an  average 
of  painful  results  with  the  manifestation  of  another's 
anger,  and  an  average  of  pleasurable  results  with  the 
manifestation  of  another's  satisfaction.  And  it  is  clear, 
in  the  second  place,  that  the  actions  thus  forbidden  and 
encouraged  must  be  mostly  actions  that  are  respectively 
detrimental  and  beneficial  to  the  tribe ;  since  the  successful 
chief  is  usually  a  better  judge  than  the  rest,  and  has  the 
preservation  of  the  tribe  at  heart.  Hence  experiences  of 
utility,  consciously  or  unconsciously  organized,  underlie  his 
injunctions ;  and  the  sentiments  which  prompt  obedience 
are,  though  very  indirectly  and  withoiit  the  knowledge  of 
those  who  feel  thum,  referable  to  experiences  of  utility. 


MOKALS    AND    UOHAL    SENTIMENTS.  345 

This  transfigured  form  of  restraint,  differing  at  first  but 
little  from  the  original  form,  admits  of  immense  develop- 
ment. Aoiiunmlating  traditions,  growing  in  grandeur  as  they 
are  repeated  from  generation  to  generation,  make  more  and 
more  superhuman  the  early-recorded  hero  of  the  race.  His 
powers  of  inflicting  punishment  and  giving  happiness  be- 
come ever  greater,  more  multitudinous,  and  moi^e  varied ; 
so  that  the  dread  of  divine  displeasure,  and  the  desire  to 
obtain  divine  approbation,  acquire  a  certain  largeness  and 
generality.  Still  the  conceptions  remain  anthropomorphic. 
The  revengeful  deity  continues  to  be  thought  of  in  terms 
of  human  emotions,  and  continues  to  be  represented  as 
displaying  these  emotions  in  human  ways.  Moreover,  thts 
sentiments  of  right  and  duty,  so  far  as  they  have  become 
developed,  refer  mainly  to  divine  commands  and  interdicts ; 
and  have  little  reference  to  the  natures  of  the  acts  com- 
manded or  interdicted.  In  the  intended  offering-up  of 
Isaac,  in  the  sacrifice  of  Jephtbah's  daughter,  and  in  the 
hewing  to  pieces  of  Agag,  as  much  as  in  the  countless 
atrocities  committed  from  religious  motives  by  various  early 
historic  races,  as  by  some  existing  savage  races,  we  see  that 
the  morality  and  immorality  of  actions,  as  we  understand 
them,  are  at  first  little  recognized  ;  and  that  the  feelings, 
chiefly  of  dread,  which  serve  in  place  of  them,  are  feelings 
felt  towards  the  unseen  beings  supposed  to  issue  the  com- 
mands and  interdicts. 

Here  it  will  be  said  that,  as  just  admitted,  these  are  not 
the  moral  sentiments  properly  so  called.  They  are  simply 
sentiments  that  precede  and  make  possible  those  highest 
sentiments  which  do  not  refer  either  to  personal  benefits  or 
evils  to  be  expected  from  men,  or  to  more  remote  rewards 
and  punishments.  Several  comments  are,  however,  called 
forth  by  this  criticism.  One  is,  that  if  we  glance  back  at 
past  beliefs  and  their  correlative  feelings,  as  shown  in 
]3ante's  poem,  in  the  mystery-plays  of  the  middle  ages,  in 
St.  Bartholomew  massacres,  in  burnings  for  heresy,  we  get 


346  MORALS   AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS. 

proof  that  in  comparativply  modern  times  right  and  wrong 
meant  little  else  than  subordination  or  insubordination — to 
a  divine  ruler  primarily,  and  under  him  to  a  human  ruler. 
Another  is,  that  down  to  our  own  day  this  conception 
largely  prevails,  and  is  even  embodied  in  elaborate  ethical 
works — instance  the  Essays  on  the  Principles  of  Morality, 
by  Jonathan  Dymond,  which  recognizes  no  ground  of  moral 
obligation  save  the  will  of  God  as  expressed  in  the  current 
creed.  And  yet  a  further  is,  that  while  in  sermons  the 
torments  of  the  damned  and  the  joys  of  the  blessed  are 
set  forth  as  the  dominant  deterrents  and  incentives,  and 
while  we  have  prepared  for  us  printed  instructions  "  how 
to  make  the  best  of  both  worlds,"  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  feelings  which  impel  and  restrain  men  are  still 
largely  composed  of  elements  like  those  operative  on  the 
savage  :  the  dread,  partly  vague,  partly  specific,  associated 
with  the  idea  of  reprobation,  human  and  divine,  and  the 
sense  of  satisfaction,  partly  vague,  partly  specific,  associated 
with  the  idea  of  approbation,  human  and  divine. 

But  during  the  growth  of  that  civilization  which  has 
been  made  possible  by  these  ego-altruistic  sentiments,  there 
have  been  slowly  evolving  the  altruistic  sentiments.  De- 
velopment of  these  has  gone  on  only  as  fast  as  society  has 
advanced  to  a  state  in  which  the  activities  are  mainly 
peaceful.  The  root  of  all  the  altruistic  sentiments  is 
sympathy ;  and  sympathy  could  become  dominant  only 
when  the  mode  of  life,  instead  of  being  one  that  habitually 
inflicted  direct  pain,  became  one  which  conferred  direct 
and  indirect  benefits :  the  pains  inflicted  being  mainly 
incidental  and  indirect.  Adam  Smith  made  a  large  step 
towards  this  truth  when  he  recognized  sympathy  as  giving 
rise  to  these  superior  controlling  emotions.  His  Theory 
of  Moral  Sentiments,  however,  requires  to  be  supplemented 
in  two  ways.  The  natural  process  by  which  sympathy 
becomes  developed  into  a  more  and  more  important  element 
of  human  nature  has  to  be  explained ;  and  there  has  also 


MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS.  347 

to  be  explained  the  process  by  which  sympathy  produces 
the  highest  and  most  complex  of  the  altruistic  sentiments — 
that  of  justice.  Respecting  the  first  process^  I  can  here  do 
no  more  than  say  that  sympathy  may  be  proved,  both 
inductively  and  deductively,  to  be  the  concomitant  of 
gregariousness :  the  two  having  all  along  increased  by 
reciprocal  aid.  Multiplication  has  ever  tended  to  force 
into  an  association,  more  or  less  close,  all  creatures  having 
"kinds  of  food  and  supplies  of  food  that  permit  association ; 
and  established  psychological  laws  warrant  the  inference 
that  some  sympathy  will  inevitably  result  from  habitual 
manifestations  of  feelings  in  presence  of"  one  another,  and 
that  the  gregariousness  being  augmented  by  the  increase  of 
sympathy,  further  facilitates  the  development  of  sympathy. 
But  there  are  negative  and  positive  checks  upon  this  deve- 
lopment— negative,  because  sympathy  cannot  advance  faster 
than  intelligence  advances,  since  it  presupposes  the  power 
of  interpreting  the  natural  language  of  the  various  feelings, 
and  of  mentally  representing  those  feelings ;  positive,  be- 
cause the  immediate  needs  of  self-preservation  are  often  at 
variance  with  its  promptings,  as,  for  example,  during  the 
predatory  stages  of  human  progress.  For  explanations  of 
the  second  process,  I  must  refer  to  the  Principles  of  Psycho- 
logy (§  202,  first  edition,  and  §  215,  second  edition)  and  to 
ISocial  Statics,  part  ii.  chapter  v.'^  Asking  that  in  default 
of  space  these  explanations  may  be  taken  for  granted,  let 
me  here  point  out  in  what  sense  even  sympathy,  and  the 
sentiments  that  result  from  it,  are  due  to  experiences  of 
utility.  If  we  suppose  all  thought  of  rewards  or  punish- 
ments; immediate  or  remote,  to  be  left  out  of  consideration, 
it  is  clear  that  any  one  who  hesitates  to  inflict  a  pain  because 

•  I  may  add  that  in  Social  Statics,  chap,  xxx.,  I  have  indicated,  in  a  general 
way,  the  causes  of  the  development  of  sympathy  and  the  restraints  upon  ita 
development — confining  the  discussion,  however,  to  the  case  of  the  human 
race,  my  subject  limiting  mo  to  that.  The  accompanying  teleology  I  now 
disclaim. 


348  MORALS  AND  MORAL  SENTIMENTS. 

of  the  vivid  roprosentation  of  that  pain  which  rises  in  his 
consciousness,  is  restrained,  not  by  any  sense  of  obligation 
or  by  any  formulated  doctrine  of  utility,  but  by  the  painful 
association  established  in  liim.  And  it  is  clear  that  if,  after 
repeated  experiences  of  the  moral  discomfort  he  has  felt 
from  witnessing  the  unhappiness  indirectly  caused  by  some 
of  his  acts,  he  is  led  to  check  himself  when  again  tempted 
to  those  acts,  the  restraint  is  of  like  nature.  Conversely 
with  the  pleasure-giving  acts  :  repetitions  of  kind  deeds,  and 
experiences  of  the  sympathetic  gratifications  that  follow, 
tend  continually  to  make  stronger  the  association  between 
such  deeds  and  feelings  of  happiness. 

Eventually  these  experiences  may  be  consciously  general- 
ized, and  there  may  result  a  deliberate  pursuit  of  sympa- 
thetic gratifications.  There  may  also  come  to  be  distinctly 
recognized  the  truths  that  the  remoter  results,  kind  and 
unkind  conduct,  are  respectively  beneficial  and  detrimen- 
tal— that  due  regard  for  others  is  conducive  to  ultimate 
personal  welfare,  and  disregard  of  others  to  ultimate  per- 
joual  disaster ;  and  then  there  may  become  current  such 
summations  of  experience  as  "  honesty  is  the  best  policy." 
But  so  far  from  regarding  these  intellectual  recognitions 
of  utility  as  preceding  and  causing  the  moral  sentiment,  I 
regard  the  moral  sentiment  as  preceding  such  recognitions 
of  utility,  and  making  them  possible.  The  plensures  and 
pains  directly  resulting  in  experience  from  sympathetic  and 
unsympathetic  actions,  had  first  to  be  slowly  associated 
with  such  actions,  and  the  resulting  incentives  and  deter- 
rents frequently  obeyed,  before  there  could  arise  the  per- 
ceptions that  sympathetic  and  unsympathetic  actions  are 
remotely  beneficial  or  detrimental  to  the  actor;  and  they 
had  to  be  obeyed  still  longer  and  more  generally  before 
thei*e  could  arise  the  perceptions  that  they  are  socially 
beneficial  or  detinmental.  When,  however,  the  remote 
effects,  personal  and  social,  have  gained  general  recog- 
nition, are  expressed  in  current  maxims,  and  lead  to  iu- 


MOKALS    A^fD    510RAI,    SENTIMENTS.  349 

junctions  Laving  the  religious  sanction,  the  sentiments 
that  prompt  sympathetic  actions  and  check  unsympathetic 
ones  are  immensely  strengthened  by  their  alliances.  Ap- 
probation and  reprobation,  divine  and  human,  come  to  -be 
associated  in  thought  with  the  sympathetic  and  unsym- 
pathetic actions  respectively.  The  commands  of  the  creed, 
the  legal  penalties,  and  the  code  of  social  conduct,  unitedly 
enforce  them;  and  every  child  as  it  grows  up,  daily  has 
impressed  on  it  by  the  words  and  faces  and  voices  of  those 
around  the  authority  of  these  highest  principles  of  conduct. 
And  now  we  may  see  why  there  arises  a  belief  in  the 
Sjjecial  sacredness  of  these  highest  principles,  and  a  sense 
of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  altruistic  sentiments 
answering  to  them.  Many  of  the  actions  which,  in  early 
social  states,  received  the  religious  sanction  and  gained 
public  approbation,  had  the  drawback  that  such  sympathies 
as  existed  were  outraged,  and  there  was  hence  an  imperfect 
satisfaction.  Whereas  these  altruistic  actions,  while  simi- 
larly having  the  religious  sanction  and  gaining  public 
approbation,  bring  a  sympathetic  consciousness  of  pleasure 
given  or  of  pain  prevented;  and,  beyond  this,  bring  a 
sympathetic  consciousness  of  human  welfare  at  large,  as 
being  furthered  by  making  altruistic  actions  habitual. 
Both  this  special  and  this  general  sympathetic  conscious- 
ness become  stronger  and  wider  in  proportion  as  the  power 
of  mental  representation  increases,  and  the  imagination  of 
consequences,  immediate  and  remote,  grows  more  vivid  and 
comprehensive.  Until  at  length  these  altruistic  sentiments 
begin  to  call  in  question  the  authority  of  those  ego-altruistic 
sentiments  which  once  ruled  unchallenged.  They  prompt 
resistance  to  laws  that  do  not  fulfil  the  conception  of  justice, 
encourage  men  to  brave  the  frowns  of  their  fellows  by 
pursuing  a  course  at  variance  with  customs  that  are  per- 
ceived to  be  socially  injurious,  and  even  cause  dissent  from 
the  current  reli^'ion;  either  to  the  extent  of  disbelief  in 
those  alleged  divine  attributes  and  acts  not  approved  by  this 


350  MORALS    AND    MORAL    SENTIMENTS. 

Biipreine  moral  arbiter^  or  to  the  extent  of  entire  rejection 
of  a  creed  which  ascribes  such  attributes  and  acts. 

Much  that  is  required  to  make  this  hypothesis  complete 
must  stand  over  until,  at  the  close  of  the  second  volume  of 
the  Principles  of  Psychology,  I  have  space  for  a  full  ex- 
position.    What  I  have  said  will  make  it  sufficiently  clear 
that  two  fundamental  errors  have  been  made  in  the  inter- 
pretation put  upon  it.     Both  Utility  and  Experience  have 
been  construed  in  senses  much  too  narrow.     Utility,  con- 
venient a  word  as  it  is  from  its  comprehensiveness,  has 
very  inconvenient  and  misleading  implications.     It  vividly 
suggests  uses,   and  means,  and  proximate  ends,  but  very 
faintly  suggests  the  pleasures,  positive  or  negative,  which 
are  the  ultimate  ends,  and  which,  in  the  ethical  meaning 
of  the  word,  are  alone  considered ;  and,  further,  it  implies 
conscious   recognition    of   means   and    ends  —  implies   the 
deliberate    taking    of    some    course    to    gain    a   perceived 
benefit.     Experience,  too,  in  its  ordinary  acceptation,  con- 
notes definite  perceptions  of  causes  and  consequences,  as 
standing  in  observed  relations,  and  is  not  taken  to  include 
the    connexions   formed   in   consciousness   between    states 
that  recur  together,  when  the  relation  between  them,  causal 
or  other,  is  not  perceived.     It  is  in  their  widest  senses, 
however,   that  I    habitually  use  these  words,   as   will   be 
manifest  to  every  one  who  reads  the  Principles  of  Psychology ; 
and  it  is  in  their  widest  senses  that  I  have  used  them  in 
the  letter  to  Mr.  Mill.     I  think  I  have  shown  above  that, 
when  they  are  so  understood,   the  hypothesis  briefly  set 
forth  in  that  letter  is  by  no  means  so  indefensible  as  is 
supposed.     At  any  rate,  I  have  shown — what  seemed  for 
the  present  needful  to  show — that  Mr.  Hutton's  versions  of 
my  views  must  not  be  accepted  as  correct. 


THE  COMPARATIVE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MATT. 

\_Originally  read  before  the  Anthropological  Institute,  and  after- 
wards  published  in  Mind, /or  January,  1876.] 

While  discussing  with  two  members  of  the  Anthropo- 
logical Institute  the  work  to  be  undertaken  by  its  psycho- 
logical section,  I  made  certain  suggestions  which  they 
requested  me  to  put  in  writing.  When  reminded,  some 
months  after,  of  the  promise  I  had  made  to  do  this,  I 
failed  to  recall  the  particular  suggestions  referred  to ;  but 
in  the  endeavour  to  remember  them,  I  was  led  to  glance 
over  the  whole  subject  of  comparative  human  psychology. 
Hence  resulted  the  following  paper. 

That  making  a  general  survey  is  useful  as  a  preliminary 
to  deliberate  study,  either  of  a  whole  or  of  any  part, 
scarcely  needs  showing.  Vagueness  of  thought  accom- 
panies the  wandering  about  in  a  region  without  known 
bounds  or  landmarks.  Attention  devoted  to  some  portion 
of  a  subject  in  ignorance  of  its  connexion  with  the  rest, 
leads  to  untrue  conceptions.  The  whole  cannot  be  rightly 
conceived  without  some  knowledge  of  the  parts;  and  no 
part  can  be  rightly  conceived  out  of  relation  to  the  whole. 

To  map  out  the  Comparative  Psychology  of  Man  must 
also  conduce  to  the  more  methodic  carrying  on  of  inquiries. 
In  this,  as  in  other  things,  division  of  labour  will  facilitate 


352  THE    COMTATIATIVE    rSYCHOLOGY    OF    MAN. 

progress ;  and  that  tliere  may  be  division  of  labour,  tlie 
■work  itself  must  be  systematically  divided. 

We  may  conveniently  separate  the  entire  subject  into 
three  main  divisions,  and  may  arrange  them  in  the  order 
of  increasing  speciality. 

The  first  division  will  treat  of  the  degrees  of  mental 
evolution  of  different  human  types,  generally  considered : 
taking  account  of  both  the  mass  of  mental  manifestation 
and  the  complexity  of  mental  manifestation.  This  division 
will  include  the  relations  of  these  characters  to  physical 
characters — the  bodily  mass  and  structure,  and  the  cerebral 
mass  and  structure.  It  will  also  include  inquiries  con- 
cerning the  time  taken  in  completing  mental  evolution,  and 
the  time  during  which  adult  mental  power  lasts ;  as  well 
as  certain  most  general  traits  of  mental  action,  such  as  the 
greater  or  less  persistence  of  emotions  and  of  intellectual 
processes.  The  connexion  between  the  general  mental 
type  and  the  general  social  type  should  also  be  here 
dealt  with. 

In  the  second  division  may  be  conveniently  placed  apart, 
inquiries  concerning  the  relative  mental  natures  of  the 
sexes  in  each  race.  Under  it  will  come  such  questions  as 
these : — What  differences  of  mental  mass  and  mental  com- 
plexity, if  an}^,  existing  between  males  and  females,  are 
common  to  all  races  ?  Do  such  differences  vary  in  degree, 
or  in  kind,  or  in  both  ?  Are  there  reasons  for  thinking 
(hat  they  are  liable  to  change  by  increase  or  decrease  ? 
What  relations  do  they  bear  in  each  case  to  the  habits  of 
life,  the  domestic  arrangements,  and  the  social  arrange- 
ments ?  This  division  should  also  include  in  its  scope  the 
sentiments  of  the  sexes  towards  one  another,  considered  as 
varying  quantitatively  and  qualitatively;  as  well  as  their 
respective  sentiments  towards  offspring,  similarly  varying. 

For  the  third  division  of  inquiries  may  be  reserved  the 
more  special  mental  traits  distinguishing  different  types  of 
men.     One  class  of  such  specialities  results  from  differences 


TIIR    COMr'ARATIVK    PSVCIIOLOOY    OF    MA^i.  3-">3 

of  proportion  among  faculties  possessed  in  common;  and 
another  class  results  from  the  presence  in  some  races  of 
faculties  that  are  almost  or  quite  absent  from  others.  Each 
difference  in  each  of  these  groups,  when  established  by 
comparison,  has  to  be  studied  in  connexion  with  the  stage 
of  mental  evolution  reached,  and  has  to  be  studied  in 
connexion  with  the  habits  of  life  and  the  social  develop- 
ment, regarding  it  as  related  to  these  both  as  cause  and 
as  consequence. 

Such  being  the  outlines  of  these  several  divisions,  let  us 
now  consider  in  detail  the  subdivisions  contained  within 
each. 

I. — Under  the  head  of  general  mental  evolution  we  may 
begin  with  the  trait  of — 

1.  Mental  viass. — Daily  experiences  show  us  that  human 
beings  differ  in  volume  of  mental  manifestation.  Some 
there  are  whose  intelligence,  high  though  it  may  be,  pro- 
duces little  impression  on  those  around ;  while  there  are 
some  who,  when  uttering  even  commonplaces,  do  it  so  as 
to  affect  listeners  in  a  disproportionate  degree.  Comparison 
of  two  such,  makes  it  manifest  that,  generally,  the  dif- 
ference is  due  to  the  natural  language  of  the  emotions. 
Behind  the  intellectual  quickness  of  the  one  there  is  not 
felt  any  power  of  character;  while  the  other  betrays  a 
momentum  capable  of  bearing  down  opposition — a  poten- 
tiality of  emotion  that  has  something  formidable  about 
it.  Obviously  the  varieties  of  mankind  differ  much  in 
respect  of  this  trait.  Apart  from  kind  of  feeling,  they  are 
unlike  in  amount  of  feeling.  The  dominant  races  overrun 
the  inferior  races  mainly  in  virtue  of  the  greater  quantity 
of  energy  in  which  this  greater  mental  mass  shows  itself. 
Hence  a  series  of  inquiries,  of  which  these  are  some: — (a) 
What  is  the  relation  between  mental  mass  and  bodily  mass  ? 
Manifestly,  the  small  races  are  deficient  in  it.     But  it  also 


S54  THE    COMPARATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    MAN. 

a,ppears  that  races  nmcli  upon  a  par  in  size — as,  for 
instance,  an  Englishman  and  a  Damara,  diifer  considerably 
in  mental  mass,  (b)  What  is  its  relation  to  mass  of  brain  ? 
and,  bearing  in  mind  the  general  law  that  in  the  same 
species,  size  of  brain  increases  with  size  of  body  (though 
not  in  the  same  proportion),  how  far  can  we  connect  the 
extra  mental  mass  of  the  higher  races,  with  an  extra  mass 
of  brain  beyond  that  which  is  proper  to  their  greater 
bodily  mass  ?  (c)  What  relation,  if  any,  is  there  between 
mental  mass  and  the  physiological  state  expressed  in  vigour 
of  circulation  and  richness  of  blood,  as  severally  determined 
by  mode  of  life  and  general  nutrition  ?  (d)  What  are  the 
relations  of  this  trait  to  the  social  state,  as  nomadic  or 
settled,  predatory  or  industrial  ? 

2.  Mental  complexity. — How  races  differ  in  respect  of 
the  more  or  less  involved  structures  of  their  minds,  will 
best  be  understood  on  recalling  the  unlikeness  between  the 
juvenile  mind  and  the  adult  mind  among  ourselves.  In 
the  child  we  see  absorption  in  special  facts.  Generalities 
even  of  a  low  order  are  scarcely  recognized,  and  there  is 
no  recognition  of  high  generalities.  We  see  interest  in 
individuals,  in  personal  adventures,  in  domestic  affairs,  but 
no  interest  in  political  or  social  matters.  We  see  vanity 
about  clothes  and  small  achievements,  but  little  sense  of 
justice  :  witness  the  forcible  appropriation  of  one  another's 
toys.  While  there  have  come  into  play  many  of  the 
simpler  mental  powers,  there  has  not  yet  been  reached 
that  complication  of  mind  which  results  from  the  addition 
of  powers  evolved  out  of  these  simpler  ones.  Kindred  differ- 
ences of  complexity  exist  between  the  minds  of  lower  and 
higher  races ;  and  comparisons  should  be  made  to  ascertain 
their  kinds  and  amounts.  Here,  too,  there  may  be  a  sub- 
division of  the  inquiries,  (a)  What  is  the  relation  between 
mental  complexity  and  mental  mass  ?  Do  not  the  two 
habitually  vary  together?     {b)  What  is  the  relation  to  the 


THE    COMPARATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OP    MAN.  S50 

social  state,  as  more  or  less  complex  ?  that  is  to  say — Do 
not  mental  complexity  and  social  complexity  act  and  react 
on  each  other  ? 

3.  Rate  of  mental  development. — In  conformity  with  the 
biological  law  that  the  higher  the  organisms  the  longer 
they  take  to  evolve,  members  of  the  inferior  human  races 
may  be  expected  to  complete  their  mental  evolution  sooner 
than  members  of  the  superior  races  ;  and  we  have  evidence 
that  they  do  this.  Travellers  from  many  regions  comment, 
now  on  the  great  precocity  of  children  among  savage  and 
semi-civilized  peoples,  and  now  on  the  early  arrest  of  their 
mental  progress.  Though  we  scarcely  need  more  proofs 
that  this  general  contrast  exists,  there  remains  to  be  asked 
the  question,  whether  it  is  consistently  maintained  through- 
out all  groups  of  races,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest — ■ 
whether,  say,  the  Australian  differs  in  this  respect  from  the 
Hindu,  as  much  as  the  Hindu  does  from  the  European. 
Of  secondary  inquiries  coming  under  this  sub-head  may  be 
named  several,  (a)  Is  this  more  rapid  evolution  and 
earlier  arrest  always  unequally  shown  by  the  two  sexes;  or, 
in  other  words,  are  there  in  lower  types  proportional 
differences  in  rate  and  degree  of  development,  such  as 
higher  types  show  us  ?  {b)  Is  there  in  many  cases,  as  there 
appears  to  be  in  some  cases,  a  traceable  relation  between 
the  period  of  arrest  and  the  period  of  puberty?  (c)  Is 
mental  decay  early  in  proportion  as  mental  evolution  is 
rapid  ?  {d)  Can  we  in  other  respects  assert  that  where 
the  type  is  low,  the  entire  cycle  of  mental  changes  between 
birth  and  death — ascending,  uniform,  descending — comes 
within  a  shorter  interval? 

4.  Relative  plasfirity. — Is  there  any  relation  between  the 
degree  of  mental  modifiability  which  remains  in  adult  life, 
and  the  character  of  the  mental  evolution  in  respect  of  mass, 
complexity,  and  rapidity  ?  The  animal  kingdom  at  large 
yields  reasons  for  associating  an  inferior  and  more  rapidly- 
completed   mental   structure,  with   a  relatively   automatic 


356  THE    COMPARATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OP    MAN. 

nature.  Lowly  organized  creatures,  guided  almost  entirely 
by  reflex  actions,  are  in  but  small  degrees  changeable  by 
individual  experiences.  As  the  nervous  structure  com- 
plicates, its  actions  become  less  rigorously  confined  within 
pre-established  limits;  and  as  we  approach  the  highest 
creatures,  individual  experiences  take  larger  and  larger 
shares  in  moulding  the  conduct :  there  is  an  increasing 
ability  to  take  in  new  impressions  and  to  profit  by  the 
acquisitions.  Inferior  and  superior  human  races  are  con- 
trasted in  this  respect.  Many  travellers  comment  on  the 
unchangeable  habits  of  savages.  The  semi-civilized  nations 
of  the  East,  past  and  present,  were,  or  are,  characterized 
by  a  greater  rigidity-  of  custom  than  characterizes  the  more 
civilized  nations  of  the  West.  The  histories  of  the  most 
civih'zed  nations  show  us  that  in  their  earlier  times,  the 
modifiability  of  ideas  and  habits  was  less  than  it  is  at 
present.  And  if  we  contrast  classes  or  individuals  around 
us,  we  see  that  the  most  developed  in  mind  are  the  most 
plastic.  To  inquiries  respecting  this  trait  of  comparative 
plasticity,  in  its  relations  to  precocity  and  early  completion 
of  mental  development,  may  fitly  be  added  inquiries  respect- 
ing its  relations  tp  the  social  state,  which  it  helps  to 
determine,  and  which  reacts  upon  it. 

5.  Variahility. — To  say  of  a  mind  that  its  actions  are 
extremely  inconstant,  and  at  the  same  time  to  say  that  it  is 
of  relatively  unchangeable  nature,  apparently  implies  a  con- 
tradiction. When,  however,  the  inconstancy  is  understood 
as  referring  to  the  manifestations  which  follow  one  another 
from  minute  to  minute,  and  the  unchangeableness  to  the 
average  manifestations,  extending  over  long  periods,  the 
apparent  contradiction  disappears;  and  it  becomes  com- 
prehensible that  the  two  traits  may,  and  ordinarily  do,  co- 
exist. An  infant,  quickly  wearied  with  each  kind  of  percep- 
tion, wanting  ever  a  new  object  which  it  soon  abandons 
for  something  else,  and  alternating  a  score  times  a  day 
between  smiles  and  teai-s,  shows  us  a  very  small  persistencG 


THE    COMPAEATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    MAN.  357 

in  each  kind  of  mental  action:  all  its  states,  intellectual  and 
emotional,  are  transient.  Yet  at  tlie  same  time  its  mind 
cannot  be  easily  changed  in  character.  True,  it  changes 
spontaneously  in  due  course;  but  it  long  remains  incapable 
of  receiving  ideas  or  emotions  beyond  those  of  simple 
orders.  The  child  exhibits  less  rapid  variations,  intellec- 
tual and  emotional,  while  its  educability  is  greater.  Inferior 
human  races  show  us  this  combination:  great  rigidity  of 
general  character  with  great  irregularity  in  its  passing 
manifestations.  Speaking  broadly,  while  they  resist  per- 
manent modification,  they  lack  intellectual  persistence,  and 
they  lack  emotional  persistence.  Of  various  low  types  we 
read  that  they  cannot  keep  the  attention  fixed  beyond  a  few 
minutes  on  anything  requiring  thought,  even  of  a  simple 
kind.  Similarly  with  their  feelings:  these  are  less  enduring 
than  those  of  civilized  men.  There  are,  however,  qualifica- 
tions to  be  made  in  this  statement;  and  comparisons  are 
needed  to  ascertain  how  far  these  qualifications  go.  The 
savage  shows  great  persistence  in  the  action  of  the  lower 
intellectual  faculties.  He  is  untiring  in  minute  observation. 
He  is  untiring,  also,  in  that  kind  of  perceptive  activity 
which  accompanies  the  making  of  his  weapons  and  orna- 
ments: often  persevering  lor  immense  periods  in  carving 
stones,  &c.  Emotionally,  too,  he  shows  persistence  not 
only  in  the  motives  prompting  these  small  industries,  but 
also  in  certain  of  his  passions — especially  in  that  of  revenge. 
Hence,  in  studying  the  degrees  of  mental  variability  shown 
us  in  the  daily  lives  of  the  different  races,  we  must  ask  how 
far  variability  characterizes  the  whole  mind,  and  how  far  it 
holds  only  of  parts  of  the  mind. 

().  Im-pulsiveness. — This  trait  is  closely  allied  with  the 
last :  unenduring  emotions  are  emotions  which  sway  the 
conduct  now  this  way  and  now  that,  without  any  consist- 
ency. The  trait  of  impulsiveness  may,  liowever,  be  fitly 
dealt  with  separately,  because  it  has  other  implications  than 
mere  lack  of  persistence.     Comparisons  of  the  lower  human 


358  THE    COMPAEATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY   OP   MAN. 

races  with  the  higher,  appear  generally  to  show  that,  along 
with  brevity  of  the  passions,  there  goes  violence.  The 
sudden  gusts  of  feeling  which  men  of  inferior  types  display, 
are  excessive  in  degree  as  they  are  short  in  duration ;  and 
there  is  probably  a  connexion  between  these  two  traits : 
intensity  sooner  producing  exhaustion.  Observing  that 
the  passions  of  childhood  illustrate  this  connexion,  let  us 
turn  to  certain  interesting  questions  concerning  the  decrease 
of  impulsiveness  which  accompanies  advance  in  evolution. 
The  nervous  processes  of  an  impulsive  being,  are  less 
remote  from  reflex  actions  than  are  those  of  an  unimpulsive 
being.  In  reflex  actions  we  see  a  simple  stimulus  passing 
suddenly  into  movement:  little  or  no  control  being  exercised 
by  other  parts  of  the  nervous  system.  As  we  ascend  to 
higher  actions,  guided  by  more  and  more  complicated  com- 
binations of  stimuli,  there  is  not  the  same  instantaneous 
discharge  in  simple  motions;  but  there  is  a  comparatively 
deliberate  and  more  variable  adjustment  of  compound 
motions,  duly  restrained  and  proportioned.  It  is  thus  with 
the  passions  and  sentiments  in  the  less  developed  natures 
and  in  the  more  developed  natures.  Where  there  is  but 
little  emotional  complexity,  an  emotion,  when  excited  by 
some  occurrence,  explodes  in  action  before  the  other 
emotions  have  been  called  into  play;  and  each  of  these, 
from  time  to  time,  does  the  like.  But  the  more  complex 
emotional  structure  is  one  in  which  these  simpler  emotions 
are  so  co-ordinated  that  they  do  not  act  independently. 
Before  excitement  of  any  one  has  had  time  to  cause  action, 
some  excitement  has  been  communicated  to  others — often 
antagonistic  ones;  and  the  conduct  becomes  modified  in 
adjustment  to  the  combined  dictates.  Hence  results  a 
decreased  impulsiveness,  and  also  a  greater  persistence. 
The  conduct  pursued,  being  prompted  by  several  emotions 
co-operating  in  degrees  which  do  not  exhaust  them, 
acquires  a  greater  continuity;  and  while  spasmodic  force 
becomes  less  conspicuous,  there  is  an  increase  in  the  total 


TUE    COMPAIIATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    MAN".  359 

enersry.  Examining  the  facts  from  tliis  point  of  view,  there 
are  sundry  questions  of  interest  to  be  put  respecting  the 
different  races  of  men.  (a)  To  what  other  traits  than 
degree  of  mental  evolution  is  impulsiveness  related  ?  Apart 
from  difference  in  elevation  of  type,  the  New- World  races 
seem  to  be  less  impulsive  than  the  Old- World  races.  Is 
this  due  to  constitutional  apathy  ?  Can  there  be  traced 
(other  things  equal)  a  relation  between  physical  vivacity 
and  mental  impulsiveness  ?  (b)  What  connexion  is  there 
between  this  trait  and  the  social  state  ?  Clearly  a  very 
explosive  nature — such  as  that  of  the  Bushman — ^is  unfit 
for  social  union;  and,  commonly,  social  union,  when  by 
any  means  established,  checks  impulsiveness,  (c)  What 
respective  shares  in  checking  impulsiveness  are  taken  by 
the  feelings  which  the  social  state  fosters — such  as  the  fear 
of  surrounding  individuals,  the  instinct  of  sociality,  the 
desire  to  accumulate  property,  the  sympathetic  feelings,  the 
sentiment  of  justice  ?  These,  which  require  a  social  environ- 
ment for  their  development,  all  of  them  involve  imagina- 
tions of  consequences  more  or  less  distant ;  and  thus  imply 
checks  upon  the  promptings  of  the  simpler  passions.  Hence 
arise  the  questions — In  what  order,  in  what  degrees,  and  in 
what  combinations,  do  they  come  into  play  ? 

7.  One  further  general  inquiry  of  a  different  kind  may  be 
added.  What  effect  is  produced  on  mental  nature  by 
mixture  of  races  ?  There  is  reason  for  believing  that 
throughout  the  animal  kingdom,  the  union  of  varieties 
wliich  have  become  widely  divergent  is  physically  injurious  ; 
while  the  union  of  slightly  divergent  varieties  is  physioall\ 
beneficial.  Does  the  like  hold  with  the  mental  nature  ? 
Some  facts  seem  to  show  that  mixture  of  human  races 
extremely  unlike,  produces  a  worthless  type  of  mind — a 
mind  fitted  neither  for  the  kind  of  life  led  by  the  higher 
of  the  two  races,  not  for  that  led  by  the  lower — a  mind 
out  of  adjustment  to  all  conditions  of  life.      Contrariwise, 

we  find  that  peoples  of  the  same  stock,  slightlv  differeati- 
24 


330  THE    COMPAUATIVE    rSYCIIOLOGY    OF    MAN. 

ated  by  lives  carried  on  in  unlike  circumstances  for  many 
generations,  produce  by  mixture  a  mental  type  having 
certain  superiorities.  In  liis  work  on  The  Hnguemots,  Mr. 
Smiles  points  out  how  large  a  number  of  distinguished  men 
among  us  have  descended  from  Flemish  and  French 
refugees ;  and  M.  Alphonse  de  Candolle,  in  his  Eistoire 
des  Sciences  et  des  Savants  depuis  deux  Siecles,  shows  that 
the  descendants  of  French  refugees  in  Switzerland  have 
produced  an  unusually  great  proportion  of  scientific  men. 
Though,  in  part,  this  result  may  be  ascribed  to  the  original 
natures  of  such  refugees,  who  must  have  had  that  inde- 
pendence which  is  a  chief  factor  in  originality,  yet  it  is 
probably  in  part  due  to  mixtures  of  races.  For  thinking 
this,  we  have  evidence  which  is  not  open  to  two  interpreta- 
tions. Prof.  Morley  draws  attention  to  the  fact  that, 
during  seven  hundred  j^ears  of  our  early  history  "  the  best 
genius  of  England  sprang  up  on  the  line  of  country  in 
which  Celts  and  Anglo-Saxons  came  together."  In  like 
manner  Mr.  Galton,  in  his  English  Men  of  Science,  shows 
that  in  recent  days  these  have  mostly  come  from  an  inland 
region,  running  generally  from  north  to  south,  which  we 
may  reasonably  presume  contains  more  mixed  blood  than 
do  the  regions  east  and  west  of  it.  Such  a  I'csult  seems 
probable  a  priori.  Two  natures  respectively  adapted  to 
slightly  unlike  sets  of  social  conditions,  mny  be  expected 
by  their  union  to  produce  a  nature  somewhat  more  plastic 
than  either — a  nature  more  impressible  by  the  new  circum- 
stances of  advancing  social  life,  and  therefore  more  likely  to 
originate  new  ideas  and  display  modified  sentiments.  The 
Comparative  Psychology  of  Man  may,  then,  fitly  include 
the  mental  effects  of  mixture;  and  among  derivative  in- 
quiries we  may  ask — How  far  the  conquest  of  race  by  race 
has  been  instrumental  in  advancing  civilization  by  aiding 
mixture,  as  well  as  in  other  ways. 

II. — The  second   of  the  three  leading  divisions  named 


THE    COMTARATIVE    rSYCHOLOGY   OP   MAN.  361 

at  tlie  outset  is  less  extensive.  Still,  concerning  the 
relative  mental  natures  of  the  sexes  in  each  race,  ques- 
tions of  much  interest  and  importance  may  be  raised. 

1.  Degree  of  difference  between  the  sexes. — It  is  an  es- 
tablished fact  that,  physically  considered,  the  contrast 
between  males  and  females  is  not  equally  great  in  all 
types  of  mankind.  The  bearded  races,  for  instance,  show 
us  a  greater  unlikeness  between  the  two  than  do  the 
beardless  races.  Among  South  American  tribes,  men  and 
women  have  a  greater  general  resemblance  in  form,  &c., 
than  is  usual  elsewhere.  The  question,  then,  suggests 
itself — Do  the  mental  natures  of  the  sexes  diifer  in  a 
constant  or  in  a  variable  degree  ?  The  diiference  is 
unlikely  to  be  a  constant  one ;  and,  looking  for  variation, 
we  may  ask  what  is  its  amount,  and  under  what  condi- 
tions does  it  occur  ? 

2.  Difference  in  mass  and  in  complexity . — The  compari- 
sons between  the  sexes,  of  course,  admit  of  subdivisions 
parallel  to  those  made  in  the  comparisons  between  races. 
Relative  mental  mass  and  relative  mental  complexity  have 
chiefly  to  be  observed.  Assuming  that  the  great  inequality 
in  the  cost  of  reproduction  to  the  two  sexes,  is  the  cause  of 
unlikeness  in  mental  mass,  as  in  physical  mass,  this  differ- 
ence may  be  studied  in  connexion  with  reproductive 
diiJerences  presented  by  the  various  races,  in  respect  of  the 
ages  at  which  reproduction  commences,  and  the  periods 
over  which  it  lasts.  An  allied  inquiry  may  be  joined  with 
this ;  namely,  how  far  the  mental  developments  of  the  two 
sexes  are  affected  by  their  relative  habits  in  respect  to 
food  and  physical  exertion  ?  In  many  of  the  lower  races, 
the  women,  treated  with  great  brutality,  are,  physically, 
much  inferior  to  the  men  :  excess  of  labour  and  defect  of 
nutrition  being  apparently  the  combined  causes.  Is  any 
arrest  of  mental  development  simultaneously  caused  ? 

3.  Variation    of    the    differences. — If     the    unlikeness, 


302       THE  COMPARATIVE  PSYCHOLOGY  OP  MAN. 

physical  and  mental,  of  the  sexes  is  not  constant,  then, 
supposing  all  races  have  diverged  from  one  original  stock, 
it  follows  that  there  must  have  been  transmission  of 
accumulated  differences  to  those  of  the  same  sex  in  pos- 
terity. If,  for  instance,  the  prehistoric  type  of  man  was 
beardless,  then  the  production  of  a  bearded  variety  implies 
that  within  that  variety  the  males  continued  to  transmit  an 
increasing  amount  of  beard  to  descendants  of  the  same 
sex.  This  limitation  of  heredity  by  sex,  shown  us  in  multi- 
tudinous ways  throughout  the  animal  kingdom,  probably 
applies  to  the  cerebral  structures  as  much  as  to  other 
structures.  Hence  the  question — Do  not  the  mental 
natures  of  the  sexes  in  alien  types  of  Man  diverge  in 
unlike  ways  and  degrees  ? 

4.  Causes  of  the  differences. — Are  any  relations  to  be 
traced  between  these  variable  diflerences  and  the  variable 
parts  the  sexes  play  in  the  business  of  life  ?  Assuming 
the  cumulative  effects  of  habit  on  function  and  structure, 
as  well  as  the  limitation  of  heredity  by  sex,  it  is  to  be 
expected  that  if,  in  any  society,  the  activities  of  one  sex, 
generation  after  generation,  differ  from  those  of  the  other, 
there  will  arise  sexual  adaptations  of  mind.  Some  in- 
stances in  illustration  may  be  named.  Among  the  Africans 
of  Loango  and  other  districts,  as  also  among  some  of  the 
Indian  Hill-tribes,  the  men  and  women  are  strongly 
contrasted  as  respectively  inert  and  energetic  :  the  industry 
of  the  women  having  apparently  become  so  natural  to 
them  that  no  coercion  is  needed.  Of  course,  such  facts 
suggest  an  extensive  series  of  questions.  Limitation  of 
heredity  by  sex  may  account  both  for  those  sexual 
differences  of  mind  which  distinguish  men  and  women  in 
all  races,  and  for  those  which  distinguish  them  in  each 
race,  or  each  society.  An  interesting  subordinate  inquiry 
may  be,  how  far  such  mental  differences  are  inverted  in 
cases   where   there   is   inversion   of    social   and    domestio 


THE    COMPARATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OP    MAN.  363 

relations ;  as  among  those  Khasi  Hill-tribes,  wliose  women 
have  so  far  the  upper  hand  that  they  turn  off  their 
husbands  in  a  summary  way  if  they  displease  them. 

5,  Mental  tnodlfiahillty  in  the  two  sexes. — Along  with 
comparisons  of  races  in  respect  of  mental  plasticity  may 
go  parallel  comparisons  of  the  sexes  in  each  race.  Is  it 
true  always,  as  it  appears  to  be  generally  true^  that  women 
are  less  modifiable  than  men  ?  The  relative  conservatism 
of  women — their  greater  adhesion  to  established  ideas  and 
practices — is  manifest  in  many  civilized  and  semi-civilized 
societies.  Is  it  so  among  the  uncivilized  ?  A  curious 
instance  of  stronger  attachment  to  custom  in  women  than 
in  men  is  given  by  Dalton,  as  occurring  among  the  Juangs, 
one  of  the  lowest  wild  tribes  of  Bengal.  Until  recently  the 
only  dress  of  both  sexes  was  something  less  than  that 
which  the  Hebrew  legend  gives  to  Adam  and  Eve.  Years 
ago  the  men  were  led  to  adopt  a  clotb  bandage  round  the 
joins,  in  place  of  the  bunch  of  leaves ;  but  the  women 
adhered  to  the  aboriginal  habit:  a  conservatism  shown 
where  it  might  have  been  least  expected. 

6.  The  sexual  sentiment. — Results  of  value  may  be  looked 
for  from  comparisons  of  races  made  to  determine  the 
amounts  and  characters  of  the  higher  feelings  to  which  the 
relation  of  the  sexes  gives  rise.  The  lowest  varieties  of 
mankind  have  but  small  endowments  of  these  feelings. 
Among  varieties  of  higher  types,  such  as  the  Malayo- 
Polynesians,  these  feelings  seem  considerably  developed : 
the  Dyaks,  for  instance,  sometimes  display  them  in  great 
strength.  Speaking  generally,  they  appear  to  become 
stronger  with  the  advance  of  civilization.  Several  sub- 
ordinate inquiries  may  be  named,  (a)  How  far  is  develop- 
ment of  the  sexual  sentiment  dependent  upon  intellectual 
advance — upon  growth  of  imaginative  power  ?  (6)  How 
far  is  it  related  to  emotional  advance;  and  especially  to 
evolution  of  those  emotions  which  originate  from  sympathy  ? 
What  are  its  relations  to  polyandry  and  pol)'gyny  ?     (c) 


364  THE    COMPARATIVE    PSYCnOLOQY    OF    MAN. 

Does  it  not  tend  towards,  and  is  it  not  fostered  hj,  mono- 
gamy ?  (d)  What  connexion  lias  it  witli  maintenance  of  tlie 
family  bond,  and  tlie  consequent  better  rearing  of  cliildren? 

III. — Under  tbe  third  head,  to  which  we  may  now  pass 
come  the  more  special  traits  of  the  different  races. 

1.  Imitatlveness. — One  of  the  characteristics  in  which 
the  lowey  types  of  men  show  us  a  smaller  departure  from 
reflex  action  than  do  the  higher  types,  is  their  strong 
tendency  to  mimic  the  motions  and  sounds  made  by  others 
— an  almost  involuntary  habit  which  travellers  find  it 
difiicult  to  check.  This  meaningless  repetition,  which 
seems  to  imply  that  the  idea  of  an  observed  action  cannot 
be  framed  in  the  mind  of  the  observer  without  tending 
forthwith  to  discharge  itself  in  the  action  conceived  (and 
every  ideal  action  is  a  nascent  form  of  the  consciousness 
accompanying  performance  of  such  action),  evidently 
diverges  but  little  from  the  automatic ;  and  decrease  of  it 
is  to  be  expected  along  with  increase  of  self-regulating 
power.  This  trait  of  automatic  mimicry  is  evidently  allied 
with  that  less  automatic  mimicry  which  shows  itself  in 
greater  persistence  of  customs.  For  customs  adopted  by 
each  generation  from  the  last  without  thought  or  inquiry, 
imply  a  tendency  to  imitate  which  overmasters  critical  and 
sceptical  tendencies :  so  maintaining  habits  for  which  no 
reasons  can  be  given.  The  decrease  of  this  irrational 
mimicry,  strongest  in  the  lowest  savage  and  feeblest  in  the 
highest  of  the  civilized,  should  be  studied  along  with  the 
successively  higher  stages  of  social  life,  as  being  at  once  an 
aid  and  a  hindrance  to  civilization  :  an  aid  in  so  far  as  it 
gives  that  fixity  to  the  social  organization  without  which  a 
society  cannot  survive ;  a  hindrance  in  so  far  as  it  offers 
resistance  to  changes  of  social  organization  that  have 
become  desirable. 

2.  Incuriosity. — Projecting  our  own  natures  into  the 
circumstances   of    the    savage,    we   imagine   ourselves  aa 


THE    COMPARATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OP    MAN.  365 

raarvelling  greatly  on  first  seeing  the  products  and  appli- 
ances of  civilized  life.  But  we  err  in  supposing  that  the 
savage  has  feelings  such  as  we  should  have  in  his  place. 
Want  of  rational  curiosity  respecting  these  incomprehensible 
novelties,  is  a  trait  remarked  of  the  lowest  races  wherever 
found;  and  the  partially-civilized  races  are  distinguished 
from  them  as  exhibiting  rational  curiosity.  The  relation 
of  this  trait  to  the  intellectual  nature,  to  the  emotional 
nature,  and  to  the  social  state,  should  be  studied. 

3.  Quality  of  thought. — Under  this  vague  head  may  be 
placed  many  sets  of  inquiries,  each  of  them  extensive — 
(a)  The  degree  of  generality  of  the  ideas ;  (/>)  the  degree  of 
abstractness  of  the  ideas;  (c)  the  degree  of  definitoness 
of  the  ideas;  {d)  the  degree  of  coherence  of  the  ideas;  (e) 
the  extent  to  which  there  have  been  developed  such  notions 
as  those  of  cZa.s'.s,  of  cause,  of  uniformity,  of  law,  of  truth. 
Many  conceptions  which  have  become  so  familiar  to  us  that 
we  assume  them  to  be  the  common  property  of  all  minds, 
are  no  more  possessed  by  the  lowest  savages  than  they  are 
by  our  own  children ;  and  comparisons  of  types  should  be 
so  made  as  to  elucidate  the  processes  by  which  such  con- 
ceptions are  reached.  The  development  under  each  head 
has  to  be  observed — (a)  independently  in  its  successive 
stages ;  (6)  in  connexion  with  the  co-operative  intellectual 
conceptions  ;  (c)  in  connexion  with  the  progress  of  language, 
of  the  arts,  and  of  social  organization.  Ah'eady  linguistic 
phenomena  have  been  used  in  aid  of  such  inquiries ;  and 
more  systematic  use  of  them  should  be  made.  Not  only 
the  number  of  general  words,  and  the  number  of  abstract 
words,  in  a  people's  vocabulary  should  be  taken  as  evidence, 
but  also  their  degrees  of  generality  and  abstractness ;  for 
there  are  generalities  of  the  first,  second,  third,  &c.,  orders, 
and  abstractions  similarly  ascending.  Blue  is  an  abstrac- 
tion referring  to  one  class  of  impressions  derived  from 
visible  objects  ;  colour  is  a  higher  abstraction  referring  to 
many  such  classes  of  visual  impressions;  property  is  a  still 


j>65  THE    COMPARATIVE    rSYCTIOLOGY    OF    MAN. 

higher  abstraction  referring  to  classes  of  impressions 
received  not  through  the  eyes  alone,  but  through  other 
sense-organs.  If  generalities  and  abstractions  were 
arranged  in  the  order  of  their  extensiveness  and  in  the 
order  of  their  grades,  tests  would  be  obtained  which;, 
applied  to  the  vocabularies  of  the  uncivilized,  would  yield 
definite  evidence  of  the  intellectual  stages  reached. 

4.  Peculiar  aptitudes. — To  such  specialities  of  intelli- 
gence as  mark  different  degrees  of  evolution,  have  to  be 
added  miixor  ones  related  to  modes  of  life :  the  kinds  and 
degrees  of  faculty  which  have  become  organized  in  adap- 
tation to  daily  habits — skill  in  the  use  of  weapons,  powers 
of  tracking,  quick  discrimination  of  individual  objects. 
And  under  this  head  may  fitly  come  inquiries  concerning 
some  race-peculiarities  of  the  eesthetic  class,  not  at  present 
explicable.  While  the  remains  from  the  Dordogne  caves 
show  us  that  their  inhabitants,  low  as  we  must  suppose 
them  to  have  been,  could  represent  animals,  both  by 
drawing  and  carving,  with  some  degree  of  fidelity ;  there 
are  existing  races,  probably  higher  in  other  respects,  who 
seem  scarcely  capable  of  recognizing  pictorial  representa- 
tions. Similarly  with  the  musical  faculty.  Almost  or 
quite  wanting  in  some  inferior  races,  we  find  it  in  other 
races  not  of  high  grade,  developed  to  an  unexpected 
degree :  instance  the  Negroes,  some  of  whom  are  so 
innately  musical,  that,  as  I  have  been  told  by  a  missionary 
among  them,  the  children  in  native  schools  when  taught 
European  psalm-tunes,  spontaneously  sing  seconds  to  them. 
Whether  any  causes  can  be  discovered  for  race  peculiari- 
ties of  this  kind,  is  a  question  of  interest. 

5.  Specialities  of  emotional  nature. — These  are  worthy 
of  careful  study,  as  being  intimately  related  to  social 
phenomena — to  the  possibility  of  social  progress,  and 
to  the  nature  of  the  social  structure.  Among  others  to  be 
noted  there  are — [a)  Gregariousness  or  sociality — a  trait  in 
the  strength   of  which  races  differ  widely :  some,  as  tho 


TOE    COMPARATIVE    TSYCnOLOGY    OF    MAN.  3611 

Mantras,  being  almost  indifferent  to  social  intercourse ; 
some  being  unable  to  dispense  with  it.  Obviously  the 
degree  of  this  desire  for  the  presence  of  fellow-men,  affects 
greatly  the  formation  of  social  groups,  and  consequently 
nfluences  social  progress.  (6)  Intolerance  of  restraint. 
Men  of  some  inferior  types,  as  the  Mapuche,  are  ungovern- 
able ;  while  those  of  other  types,  no  higher  in  grade,  not 
only  submit  to  restraint,  but  admire  the  persons  exercising 
it.  These  contrasted  natures  have  to  be  observed  in  con- 
nexion with  social  evolution ;  to  the  early  stages  of  which 
they  are  respectively  antagonistic  and  favourable.  (c) 
The  desire  for  praise  is  a  trait  which,  common  to  all  races, 
high  and  low,  varies  considerably  in  degree.  There  are 
quite  inferior  races,  as  some  of  those  in  the  Pacific  States, 
whose  members  sacrifice  without  stint  to  gain  the  applause 
which  lavish  generosity  brings ;  while,  elsewhere,  applause 
is  sought  with  less  eagerness.  Notice  should  be  taken  of 
the  connexion  between  this  love  of  approbation  and  the 
social  restraints ;  since  it  plays  an  important  part  in  the 
maintenance  of  them.  (d)  The  acquisitive  propensity. 
This,  too,  is  a  character  the  degrees  of  which,  and  the 
relations  of  which  to  the  social  state,  have  to  be  especially 
noted.  The  desire  for  property  grows  along  with  the 
possibility  of  gratifying  it;  and  this,  extremely  small 
among  the  lowest  men,  increases  as  social  development 
goes  on.  With  the  advance  from  tribal  property  to  family 
property  and  individual  property,  the  notion  of  private 
right  of  possession  gains  definiteness,  and  the  love  of 
acquisition  strengthens.  Each  step  towai-ds  an  orderly 
social  state  makes »larger  accumulations  possible,  and  the 
]jleasures  achievable  by  them  more  sure;  while  the  result- 
inof  encouragement  to  accumulate,  leads  to  increase  of 
capital  and  to  further  progress.  This  action  and  re-action 
of  the  sentiment  and  the  social  state,  should  be  in  every 
case  observed. 

6,  The  altruistic  sentiments. — Coming  last,  these  are  also 


368  THE    COMrARATIVE    I'SYCUOLOGY    OF    MAN. 

higlicst.  The  evolution  of  them  in  the  course  of  civiliza- 
tion, shows  us  clearl}^  the  reciprocal  influences  of  the  social 
unit  and  the  social  organism.  On  the  one  hand,  there  can 
be  no  sympathy,  nor  any  of  the  sentiments  which  sympathy 
generates,  unless  there  are  fellow-beings  around.  On  the 
other  hand,  maintenance  of  union  with  fellow-beings 
depends  in  part  on  the  presence  of  sympathy,  and  the 
resulting  restraints  on  conduct.  Gregariousness  or  sociality 
favours  the  growth  of  sympathy ;  increased  sympathy  con- 
duces to  closer  sociality  and  a  more  stable  social  state ;  and 
so,  continuously,  each  increment  of  the  one  makes  possible 
a  further  increment  of  the  other.  Comparisons  of  the 
altruistic  sentiments  resulting  from  sympathy,  as  exhibited 
in  different  types  of  men  and  different  social  states,  may 
be  conveniently  arranged  under  three  heads  —  (a)  Pity, 
which  should  be  observed  as  displayed  towards  offspring, 
towards  the  sick  and  aged,  and  towards  enemies,  {b) 
Generosity  (duly  discriminated  from  the  love  of  display) 
as  shown  in  giving ;  as  shown  in  the  relinquishment  of 
pleasures  for  the  sake  of  others ;  as  shown  by  active 
efforts  on  others'  behalf.  The  manifestations  of  this 
sentiment,  too,  are  to  be  noted  in  respect  of  their  range 
— whether  they  are  limited  to  relatives;  whether  they 
extend  only  to  those  of  the  same  society;  whether  they 
extend  to  those  of  other  societies ;  and  they  are  also  to 
be  noted  in  connexion  with  the  degree  of  providence — 
whether  they  result  from  sudden  impulses  obeyed  without 
counting  the  cost,  or  go  along  with  clear  foresight  of 
the  future  sacrifices  entailed.  (c)  Justice.  This  most 
abstract  of  the  altruistic  sentiments  is  to  be  considered 
under  aspects  like  those  just  named,  as  well  as  under 
many  other  aspects — how  far  it  is  shown  in  regard  to  the 
lives  of  others ;  how  far  in  regard  to  their  freedom ;  how 
far  in  regard  to  their  property ;  how  far  in  regard  to  their 
various  minor  claims.  And  comparisons  concerning  this 
highest   sentiment  should,  beyond   all   others,  be   carried 


THE    COMPARATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    MAN.  369 

on  aloBg  with  coinparisons  of  tlie  accompanyinsf  social 
states,  which  it  largely  determines — the  forms  and  actions 
of  governments;  the  characters  of  laws;  the  relations 
of  classes. 

Such,  stated  as  briefly  as  consists  with  clearness,  are  the 
leading  divisions  and  subdivisions  under  which  the  Com- 
parative Psychology  of  Man  may  be  arranged.  In  going 
rapidly  over  so  wide  a  field,  I  have  doubtless  overlooked 
much  that  should  be  included.  Doubtless,  too,  various  of 
the  inquiries  named  will  branch  out  into  subordinate 
inquiries  well  worth  pursuing.  Even  as  it  is,  however,  the 
programme  is  extensive  enough  to  occupy  numerous  inves- 
tigators, who  may  with  advantage  take  separate  divisions. 

Though,  after  occupying  themselves  with  primitive  arts 
and  products,  anthropologists  have  devoted  their  attention 
mainly  to  the  physical  characters  of  the  human  races  ;  it 
must,  I  think,  be  admitted  that  the  study  of  these  yields 
in  importance  to  the  study  of  their  psychical  characters. 
The  general  conclusions  to  which  the  first  set  of  inquiries 
may  lead,  cannot  so  much  affect  our  views  respecting  the 
highest  classes  of  phenomena  as  can  the  general  con- 
clusions to  which  the  second  set  may  lead.  A  true  theory 
of  the  human  mind  vitally  concerns  us ;  and  systematic 
comparisons  of  human  minds,  differing  in  their  kinds  and 
grades,  will  help  us  in  forming  a  true  theory.  Knowledge 
of  the  reciprocal  relations  between  the  characters  of  men 
and  the  characters  of  the  societies  they  form,  must  influ- 
ence profoundly  our  ideas  of  political  arrangements.  When 
the  inter-dependence  of  individual  natures  and  social 
structures  is  understood,  our  conceptions  of  the  changes 
now  taking  place,  and  hereafter  to  take  place,  will  be 
rectified.  A  comprehension  of  mental  development  as  a 
process  of  adaptation  to  social  conditions,  which  are  con- 
tinually remoulding  the  mind  and  are  again  remoulded  by 
it,  will  conduce  to  a  salutary  consciousness  of  the  remoter 


370  THE    COMPAEATIVE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    MAN. 

effects  produced  by  institutions  upon  character;  and  will 
check  the  grave  mischiefs  which  ignorant  legislation  now 
causes.  Lastly,  a  right  theory  of  mental  evolution  as  exhi- 
bited by  humanity  at  large,  giving  a  key,  as  it  does,  to  the 
evolution  of  the  individual  mind,  must  help  to  rationalize 
our  perverse  methods  of  education;  and  so  to  raise  intellec- 
tual power  and  moral  nature. 


MR.  MARTINEAU  ON  EVOLUTION. 

[First  'published  in  The  Contemporary  Review, /or /«M.e,  1872.] 

The  article  by  Mr.  Martineau,  in  tlie  April  number  of 
the  Conkmporary  Review,  on  "The  Place  of  Mind  in  Na- 
ture, and  Intuition  of  Man,"  recalled  to  me  a  partially- 
formed  intention  to  deal  with  the  chief  criticisms  which 
have  from  time  to  time  been  made  on  the  general  doctrine 
set  forth  in  First  Principles;  since,  though  not  avowedly 
directed  against  propositions  asserted  or  implied  in  that 
work,  Mr.  Martineau's  reasoning  tells  against  them  by 
implication.  The  fulfilment  of  this  intention  I  should, 
however,  have  continued  to  postpone,  had  I  not  learned 
that  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Martineau  are  supposed  by  many 
to  be  conclusive,  and  that,  in  the  absence  of  replies,  it  will 
be  assumed  that  no  replies  can  be  made.  It  seems  desir- 
able, therefore,  to  notice  these  arguments  at  once — especially 
as  the  essential  ones  may,  I  think,  be  effectually  dealt  with 
in  a  comparatively  small  space. 

The  first  definite  objection  which  Mr.  Martineau  raises 
is,  that  the  hypothesis  of  General  Evolution  is  powerless  to 
account  even  for  the  simpler  orders  of  facts  in  the  absence 
of  numerous  different  sul)stances.  He  argues  that  were 
matter  all  of  one  kind,   no  such   phenomena  as  chemical 


372  MR.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION. 

changes  would  be  possible;  and  tliat,  "in  order  to  start 
the  world  on  its  chemical  career,  you  must  enlarge  its 
capital  and  present  it  with  an  outfit  of  heterogeneous  con- 
stituents. Try,  therefore,  the  effect  of  such  a  gift;  fling 
into  the  pre-existing  cauldron  the  whole  list  of  recognized 
elementary  substances,  and  give  leave  to  their  affinities  to 
work."  The  intended  implication  obviously  is,  that  there 
must  exist  the  separately-created  elements  before  evolution 
can  begin. 

Here,  however,  Mr.  Martineau  makes  an  assumption 
which  few,  if  any,  chemists  will  commit  themselves  to,  and 
which  many  will  distinctly  deny.  There  are  no  "recognized 
elementary  substances,"  if  the  expression  means  substances 
known  to  be  elementary.  What  chemists,  for  convenience, 
call  elementary  substances,  are  merely  substances  which 
they  have  thus  far  failed  to  decompose;  but,  bearing  in 
mind  past  experiences,  they  do  not  dare  to  say  that  they 
are  absolutely  undecomposable.  "Water  was  taken  to  be 
an  element  for  more  than  two  thousand  years,  and  then 
was  proved  to  be  a  compound  ;  and,  until  Davy  brought  a 
galvanic  current  to  bear  upon  them,  the  alkalies  and  the 
earths  were  supposed  to  be  elements.  So  little  true  is  it 
that  "  recognized  elementary  substances  "  are  supposed  to 
be  absolutely  elementary,  that  there  has  been  much  specu- 
lation among  chemists  respecting  the  process  of  compound- 
ing and  recompounding  by  which  they  have  been  formed 
out  of  some  ultimate  substance — some  chemists  having 
supposed  the  atom  of  hydrogen  to  be  the  unit  of  composition, 
but  others  having  contended  that  the  atomic  weights  of  the 
so-called  elements  are  not  thus  interpretable.  If  I  remem- 
ber rightly.  Sir  John  Herschel  was  one,  among  others, 
who,  some  five-and- twenty  years  ago,  threw  out  suggestions 
respecting  a  system  of  compounding  that  might  explain 
these  relations  of  the  atomic  weights. 

What  was  at  that  time  a  suspicion  has  now  become 
practically  a  certainty.     Spectrum-analysis  yields  results 


MR.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION.  373 

wliolly  irreconcilable  with  the  assumption  that  the  conven- 
tionally-named simple  substances  are  really  simple.  Each 
yields  a  spectrum  having  lines  varying  in  number  from 
two  to  eighty  or  more,  every  one  of  which  implies  tho 
intercepting  of  ethereal  undulations  of  a  certain  order  by 
something  oscillating  in  unison  or  in  harmony  with  them. 
Wei-e  iron  absolutely  elementary,  it  is  not  conceivable  that 
its  atom  could  intercept  ethereal  undulations  of  eighty 
different  orders.  Though  it  does  not  follow  that  its  mole- 
cule contains  as  many  separate  atoms  as  there  are  lines 
in  its  spectrum,  it  must  clearly  be  a  complex  molecule. 
The  evidence  thus  gained  points  to  the  conclusion  that, 
out  of  some  primordial  units,  the  so-called  elements  arise 
by  compounding  and  recompounding;  just  as  by  the  com- 
pounding and  recompounding  of  so-called  elements  there 
arise  oxides,  and  acids,  and  salts. 

And  this  hypothesis  is  entirely  in  harmony  with  the 
phenomena  of  allotropy.  Various  substances,  convention- 
ally distinguished  as  simple,  have  several  forms  under 
which  they  present  quite  different  properties.  The  semi- 
transparent,  colourless,  extremely  active  substance  called 
phosphorus  may  be  so  changed  as  to  become  opaque,  dark 
red,  and  inert.  Like  changes  are  known  to  occur  in  some 
gaseous,  non-metallic  elements,  as  oxygen ;  and  also  in 
metallic  elements,  as  antimony.  These  total  changes  of 
properties,  brought  about  without  any  changes  to  be  called 
chemical,  are  interpretable  only  as  due  to  molecular  re- 
arrangements ;  and,  by  showing  that  difference  of  property 
is  producible  by  difference  of  arrangement,  they  support 
the  inference  otherwise  to  be  drawn,  that  the  properties  of 
different  elements  result  from  differences  of  arrangement 
arising  by  the  compounding  and  recompounding  of  ultimate 
homogeneous  units. 

Thus  Mr.  Martineau's  objection,  which  at  best  would 
imply  a  turning  of  our  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  elements 
into  positive  knowledge  that  they  are  simple,  is,  in  fact,  to 


374  MR.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION. 

be  met  by  two  sets  of  evidences,  which  imply  that  they 
are  compound. 

Mr.  Martineau  next  alleges  that  a  fatal  difficulty  is  put 
in  the  way  of  the  General  Doctrine  of  Evolution  by  the 
existence  of  a  chasm  between  the  livin<^  and  the  not-living. 
He  says : — "  But  with  all  your  enlai-gement  of  data,  turn 
them  as  you  will,  at  the  end  of  every  passage  which  they 
explore,  the  door  of  life  is  closed  against  them  still.''  Here 
again  our  ignorance  is  employed  to  play  the  part  of  know- 
ledge. The  fact  that  wo  do  not  know  distinctly  how  an 
alleged  transition  has  taken  place,  is  transformed  into  the 
assumption  that  no  transition  has  taken  place.  We  have, 
in  a  more  general  shape,  the  argument  which  until  lately 
was  thought  conclusive — the  argument  that  because  the 
genesis  of  each  species  of  creature  had  not  been  explained, 
therefore  each  species  must  have  been  separately  created. 

Merely  noting  this,  however,  I  go  on  to  remark  that 
scientific  discovery  is  day  by  day  narrowing  the  chasm,  or, 
to  vary  Mr.  Martineau's  metaphor,  "opening  the  door.'* 
Not  many  years  since,  it  was  held  as  certain  that  the 
chemical  compounds  distinguished  as  organic  could  not 
be  formed  artificially.  Now,  more  than  a  thousand  organic 
compounds  have  been  formed  artificially.  Chemists  have 
discovered  the  art  of  building  them  up  from  the  simpler 
to  the  more  complex,  and  do  not  doubt  that  they  will 
eventually  produce  the  most  complex.  Moreover,  the  phe- 
nomena attending  isomeric  change  give  a  clue  to  those 
movements  which  are  the  only  indications  we  have  of  life 
in  its  lowest  forms.  In  various  colloidal  substances, 
including  the  albuminoid,  isomeric  change  is  accompanied 
by  contraction  or  expansion,  and  consequent  motion  ;  and, 
in  such  primordial  types  as  the  Protogenes  of  Haeckel, 
which  do  not  differ  in  appearance  from  minute  portions  of 
albumen,  the  observed  motions  are  comprehensible  as 
accompanying   isomeric  changes    caused  by  variations  io 


MR.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION.  875 

surrounding  physical  actions.  The  probability  of  this 
interpretation  will  be  seen  on  remembering  the  evidence 
we  have  that,  m  the  higher  organisms,  many  functions  are 
essentially  effected  by  isomeric  changes  from  one  to  another 
of  the  multitudinous  forms  which  protein  assumes. 

Thus  the  reply  to  this  objection  is,  first,  that  there  is 
going  on  from  both  sides  a  narrowing  of  the  chasm 
supposed  to  be  impassable  ;  and,  secondly,  that,  even  were 
the  chasm  not  in  course  of  being  filled  up,  we  should  no 
more  be  justified  in  therefore  assuming  a  supernatural 
commencement  of  life,  than  Kepler  was  justified  in  assuming 
that  there  were  guiding-spirits  to  keep  the  planets  in  their 
orbits,  because  he  could  not  see  how  else  they  were  to  be 
kept  in  their  orbits. 

The  third  definite  objection  made  by  Mr.  Martineau  is 
of  kindred  nature.  The  Hypothesis  of  Evolution  is,  he 
thinks,  met  by  the  insurmountable  difiiculty  that  plant  life 
and  animal  life  are  absolutely  distinct.  "You  cannot," 
he  says,  "  take  a  single  step  toward  the  deduction  of 
sensation  and  thought :  neither  at  the  upper  limit  do  the 
highest  plants  (the  exogens)  transcend  themselves  and 
overbalance  into  animal  existence  ;  nor  at  the  lower,  grope 
as  you  may  among  the  sea-weeds  and  sponges,  can  you 
persuade  the  sporules  of  the  one  to  develop  into  the  other." 

This  is  an  extremely  unfortuniite  objection  to  raise. 
For,  though  there  are  no  transitions  from  vegetal  to  animal 
life  at  the  places  Mr.  Martineau  names,  where,  indeed,  no 
biologist  would  look  for  them ;  yet  the  connexion  between 
the  two  great  kingdoms  of  living  things  is  so  complete 
that  separation  is  now  regarded  as  impossible.  For  a  long 
time  naturalists  endeavored  to  frame  definitions  such  as 
would,  the  one  include  all  plants  and  exclude  all  animals, 
and  the  other  include  all  animals  and  exclude  all  plants. 
But  they  have  been  so  repeatedly  foiled  in  the  a'l  tempt  that 
they  have  given  it  up.     There  is  no  chcmiLal  distinotiou 


376  MR.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION. 

wliicli  liolds  ;  there  is  no  structural  distinction  which 
holds;  there  is  no  functional  distinction  which  holds;  there 
is  no  distinction  as  to  mode  of  existence  which  holds.  Large 
groups  of  the  simpler  animals  contain  chlorophyll,  and 
decompose  carbonic  acid  under  the  influence  of  light,  as 
plants  do.  Large  groups  of  the  simpler  plants,  as  you 
may  observe  in  the  diatoms  from  any  stagnant  pool,  are 
no  less  actively  locomotive  than  the  minute  creatures 
classed  as  animals  seen  along  with  them.  Nay,  among 
these  lowest  types  of  living  things,  it  is  common  for  the 
life  to  be  now  predominantly  animal  and  presently  to 
become  predominantly  vegetal.  The  very  name  zoospores, 
given  to  germs  of  algce,  which  for  a  while  swim  about 
actively  by  means  of  cilia,  and  presently  settling  down 
grow  into  plant-forms,  is  given  because  of  this  conspicuous 
community  of  nature.  So  complete  is  this  community  of 
nature  that  for  some  time  past  many  naturalists  have 
witched  to  establish  for  these  lowest  types  a  sub-kingdom, 
intermediate  between  the  animal  and  the  vegetal :  the 
reason  against  this  course  being,  however,  that  the 
difficulty  crops  up  afresh  at  any  assumed  places  where 
this  intermediate  sub-kingdom  may  be  supposed  to  join 
the  other  two. 

Thus  the  assumption  on  which  Mr.  Martineau  proceeds 
is  diametrically  opposed  to  the  conviction  of  naturalists 
in  general. 

Though  I  do  not  perceive  that  it  is  specifically  stated, 
there  appears  to  be  tacitly  implied  a  fourth  difficulty  of 
allied  kind — the  difficulty  that  there  is  no  possibility  of 
transition  from  life  of  the  simplest  kind  to  mind.  Mr. 
TMavtineau  says,  indeed,  that  there  can  be  "with  only  vital 
resources,  as  in  the  vegetable  world,  no  beginning  of 
mind  : "  apparently  leaving  it  to  be  inferred  that  in  the 
aii'inal  world  the  resources  are  such  as  to  make  the 
*'  b.  ginning  of  mind  "  comprehensible.     If,  however,  instead 


MR.    MARTIN EAD    ON    EVOLUTION.  877 

of  leaving  it  a  latent  inference^  lie  had  distinctly  asserted 
a  cliasm  between  mind  and  bodily  life,  for  which  there  is 
certainly  quite  as  much  reason  as  for  asserting  a  chasm 
between  animal  life  and  vegetal  life,  the  difficulties  in  his 
way  would  have  been  no  less  insuperable. 

For  those  lowest  forms  of  irritability  in  the  animal  ^ 
kingdom  which,  I  suppose,  Mr.  Martineau  refers  to  as  the 
"^  beginning  of  mind,"  are  not  distinguishable  from  the 
irritability  which  plants  display:  they  in  no  greater  degree 
imply  consciovisness.  If  the  sudden  folding  of  a  sensitive- 
plant's  leaf  when  touched,  or  the  spreading  out  of  the 
stamens  in  a  wild-cistus  when  gently  brushed,  is  to  be 
considered  a  vital  action  of  a  purely  physical  kind ;  then  so 
too  must  be  considered  the  equally  slow  contraction  of  a 
polype's  tentacles.  And  yet,  from  this  simple  motion  of 
an  animal  of  low  type,  we  may  pass  by  insensible  stages 
through  ever-complicating  forms  of  actions,  with  their 
accompanying  signs  of  feeling  and  intelligence,  until  we 
reach  the  highest. 

Even  apart  from  the  evidence  derived  from  the  ascending 
grades  of  animals  np  from  zoophytes,  as  they  are  signifi- 
cantly named,  it  needs  only  to  observe  the  evolution  of  a 
single  animal  to  see  that  there  does  not  exist  any  break 
or  chasm  between  the  life  which  shows  no  mind  and  the 
life  which  shows  mind.  The  yelk  of  an  egg  which  the 
cook  has  just  broken,  not  only  yields  no  sign  of  mind,  but 
yields  no  sign  of  life.  It  does  not  respond  to  a  stimulus 
us  much  even  as  many  plants  do.  Had  the  egg,  instead 
of  being  broken  by  the  cook,  been  left  under  the  hen  for 
a  certain  time,  the  yelk  would  have  passed  by  infinitesimal 
gradations  through  a  series  of  forms  ending  in  the  chick  ; 
and  by  similarly  infinitesimal  gradations  would  have  arisen 
those  functions  which  end  in  the  chick  breaking  its  shell ; 
and  which,  when  it  gets  out,  show  themselves  in  running 
about,  distinguishing  and  picking  up  food,  and  squeaking 
if  hurt.     When  did  the  feeling  becrin  ?  and  how  did  thrru 


378  MR.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION. 

come  into  existence  that  power  of  perception  whicli  tho 
chick's  actions  show  ?  Should  it  be  objected  that  the 
chick's  actions  are  mainly  automatic,  I  will  not  dwell  on 
the  fact  that,  though  they  are  largely  so,  the  chick  mani- 
festly has  feeling  and  therefore  consciousness;  but  I  will 
accept  the  objection,  and  propose  that  instead  we  take  the 
human  being.  The  course  of  development  before  birth  is 
just  of  the  same  general  kind ;  and  similarly,  at  a  certain 
stage,  begins  to  be  accompanied  by  reflex  movements.  At 
birth  there  is  displayed  an  amount  of  mind  certainly  not 
greater  than  that  of  the  chick :  there  is  no  power  of 
running  from  danger — no  power  of  distinguishing  and 
picking  up  food.  If  we  say  the  chick  is  unintelligent, 
we  must  certainly  say  the  infant  is  unintelligent.  And  yet 
from  the  unintelligence  of  the  infant  to  the  intelligence  of 
the  adult,  there  is  an  advance  by  steps  so  small  that  on  no 
day  is  the  amount  of  mind  shown,  appreciably  different 
from  that  shown  on  preceding  and  succeeding  days. 

Thus  the  tacit  assumption  that  there  exists  a  break,  is 
not  simply  gratuitous,  but  is  negatived  by  the  most 
obvious  facts. 

Certain  of  the  words  and  phrases  used  in  explaining 
that  particular  part  of  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution  which 
deals  with  the  origin  of  species,  are  commented  upon  by 
Mr.  Martineau  as  having  implications  justifying  his  view. 
Let  us  consider  his  comments. 

He  says  that  competition  is  not  an  "  original  power, 
which  can  of  itself  do  anything;"  further,  that  "it  cannot 
act  except  in  the  presence  of  some  possibility  of  a  better  or 
worse  ; "  and  that  this  "  possibility  of  a  better  or  worse  " 
implies  a  "  world  pre-arranged  for  progress,"  "  a  directing 
Will  intent  upon  the  good."  Had  Mr.  Martineau  looked 
more  closely  into  the  matter,  he  would  have  found  that, 
though  the  words  and  phrases  he  quotes  are  used  for  con- 
venience, the  conceptions  they  imply  are  not  at  all  essential 


MB.    MAIITINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION.  879 

to  the  doctrine.  Under  its  rigorously-scientific  form,  the 
doctrine  is  expressible  in  purely-physical  terms,  which 
neither  imply  competition  nor  imply  better  and  worse.* 

Beyond  this  indirect  mistake  there  is  a  direct  mistake. 
Mr.  Martineau  speaks  of  the  "  survivorship  of  the  better," 
as  though  that  were  the  statement  of  the  law;  and  then 
adds  that  \]ie  alleged  result  cannot  be  inferred  ''  except  on 
the  assumption  that  whatever  is  better  is  stronger  too." 
But  the  words  he  here  uses  are  his  own  words,  not  the 
words  of  those  he  opposes.  The  law  is  the  survival  of  the 
fittest.  Probably,  in  substituting  ''better"  for  "fittest," 
Mr,  Martineau  did  not  suppose  that  he  was  changing  the 
meaning ;  though  I  dare  say  he  perceived  that  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  "  fittest "  did  not  sait  his  argument  so 
well.  Had  he  examined  the  facts,  he  would  have  found 
that  the  law  is  not  the  survival  of  the  "better"  or  the 
"  stronger,"  if  we  give  to  those  words  any  thing  like  their 
ordinary  meanings.  It  is  the  survival  of  those  which  are 
constitutionally  fittest  to  thrive  under  the  conditions  in 
which  they  are  placed;  and  very  often  that  which, 
humanly  speaking,  is  inferiority,  causes  the  survival. 
Superiority,  whether  in  size,  strength,  activity,  or  sagacity, 
is,  other  things  equal,  at  the  cost  of  diminished  fertility ; 
and  where  the  life  led  by  a  species  does  not  demand  these 
higher  attributes,  the  species  profits  by  decrease  of  them, 
and  accompanying  increase  of  fertility.  This  is  the  reason 
why  there  occur  so  many  cases  of  retrograde  metamor- 
phosis— this  is  the  reason  why  parasites,  internal  and 
external,  arc  so  commonly  degraded  forms  of  higher  types. 
Survival  of  the  "better"  does  not  cover  these  cases,  though 
survival  of  the  "fittest"  docs;  and  as  I  am  responsible 
for  the  phrase,  I  suppose  I  am  competent  to  say  that 
the  word  "fittest"  was  chosen  for  this  reason.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  these  cases  outnumber  all  others— 
•  Principles  of  Biology,  §§  159 — 168. 


380  MR.    MAETINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION. 

that  there  are  more  species  of  parasites  than  there  are 
species  of  all  other  animals  put  together — it  will  be  seen 
tliat  the  expression  "  survivorship  of  the  better  "  is  wholly 
inappropriate,  and  the  argument  Mr.  Martineau  bases  upon 
it  quite  untenable.  Indeed,  if,  in  place  of  those  adjust- 
ments of  the  human  sense-organs,  which  he  so  eloquently 
describes  as  implying  pre-arrangement,  Mr.  Martineau  had 
described  the  countless  elaborate  apj^liances  which  enable 
parasites  to  torture  animals  immeasurably  superior  to  them, 
and  which,  from  his  point  of  view,  no  less  imply  pre- 
arrangement,  I  think  the  notes  of  admiration  which  end  his 
descriptions  would  not  have  seemed  to  him  so  appropriate. 

One  more  word  there  is  from  the  intrinsic  meaning  of 
which  Mr.  Martineau  deduces  what  appears  a  powerful 
argument — the  word  Evolution  itself.     He  says  : — 

"  It  means,  to  unfold  from  within ;  and  it  is  taken  from  the  history  of  the 
seed  or  embryo  of  living  natures.  And  what  is  the  seed  but  a  casket  of 
pre-arranged  futurities,  with  its  whole  contents  prospective,  settled  to  be 
what  they  are  by  reference  to  ends  still  in  the  distance?" 

Now,  this  criticism  would  have  been  very  much  to  the 
point  did  the  word  Evolution  truly  express  the  process  it 
names.  If  this  process,  as  scientifically  defined,  really 
involved  that  conception  which  the  word  evolution  was 
oi'iginally  designed  to  convey,  the  implications  would  be 
those  Mr.  Martineau  alleges.  But,  unfortunately  for  him, 
the  word,  having  been  in  possesssion  of  the  field  before  the 
process  was  understood,  has  been  adopted  merely  because 
displacing  it  by  another  word  seemed  impracticable.  And 
this  adoption  of  it  has  been  joined  with  a  caution  against 
misunderstandings  arising  from  its  uufitness.  Here  is  a 
part  of  the  caution  : — "  Evolution  has  other  meanings,  some 
of  which  are  incongruous  with,  and  some  even  directly 
opposed  to,  the  meaning  here  given  to  it.  ,  .  .  The  anti- 
thetical word,  Involution,  would  much  move  truly  express 
the  natnre  of  the  process;  and  would,  indeed,  describe 
better  the  secondary  characters  of   the  process  which  we 


MR.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION.  881 

shnll  have  to  deal  witli  presently."*  So  tliat  tlie  me;iu« 
ings  which  the  word  involves,  and  which  Mr.  Martin eau 
regards  as  fatal  to  the  hypothesis,  are  already  repudiated 
as  not  belonging  to  the  hypothesis. 

And  now,  having  dealt  with  the  essential  objections 
raised  by  Mr.  Martineau  to  the  Hypothesis  of  Evolution 
as  it  is  presented  under  that  purely  scientific  form  whicli 
generalizes  the  process  of  things,  firstly  as  observed  and 
secondly  as  inferred  from  certain  ultimate  principles,  let 
me  go  on  to  examine  that  form  of  the  Hypothesis  which 
he  pi'opounds — Evolution  as  determined  by  Mind  and  Will 
• — Evolution  as  pre-arranged  by  a  Divine  Actor.  For  Mi-. 
Martineau  apparently  abandons  the  primitive  theory  of 
creation  by  "  fiat  of  Almighty  Will  ",  and  also  the  theory 
of  creation  by  manufacture — by  "a  contriving  and  adapt- 
ing power,"  and  seems  to  believe  in  evolution :  requiring 
only  that  "  an  originating  Mind "  shall  be  taken  as  its 
antecedent.  Let  us  ask,  first,  in  Avhat  relation  Mr. 
Martineau  conceives  the  '^originating  Mind"  to  stand  to 
the  evolving  Universe.  From  some  passages  it  is  inferable 
that  he  considers  the  ''presence  of  mind"  to  be  every- 
where needful.     He  snys  : — 

"It  is  impossible  to  work  the  theory  of  Evohition  upwanls  from  the 
bottom.  If  all  force  is  to  be  conceived  as  One,  its  type  must  be  looked  for 
in  the  highest  and  all-comprehending  term  ;  and  Mind  must  be  conceived 
as  there,  and  as  divesting  itself  of  some  speciality  at  each  step  of  its  descent 
to  a  lower  stratum  of  law,  till  represented  at  the  base  under  the  guise  of 
pimph.  Dynamics." 

This  seems  to  be  an  unmistakable  assertion  that,  wherever 
Evomtion  is  going  on.  Mind  is  then  and  there  behind  it. 
At  the  close  of  the  argument,  however,  a  quite  different 
conception  is  implied.     Mr.  Martineau  says: — 

"If  the  Divine  Idea  will  not  retire  at  the  bidding  of  our  speculative 
Bcicnce,  but  retains  its  place,  it  is  natural  to  ask,  What  is  its  relatiou  to 

♦  First  Principles,  second  edition,  §  97. 


382  MR.    MAHTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION. 

the  series  of  so-called  Forces  in  the  world  ?  But  the  question  is  too  large 
and  deep  to  be  answered  here.  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  there  need  not  be 
any  oi-erriilinr)  of  these  forces  by  the  Will  of  God,  so  that  the  sui^crnatiual 
should  disturb  the  natural ;  or  a,nj  sii])plementi7i(i  of  them,  so  that  He  should 
fill  up  their  deficiencies.  Rather  is  His  thought  related  to  theru  as,  in  man, 
the  mental  force  is  related  to  all  below  it." 

It  would  take  too  mucli  space  to  deal  fully  with  tlie 
various  questions  which  this  last  passage  raises.  There  is 
the  question — Whence  come  these  "  Forces,"  spoken  of  as 
separate  from  the  "  Will  of  God " — did  they  pre-exist  ? 
Then  what  becomes  of  the  Divine  Power  ?  Do  they  exist 
by  the  Divine  Will  ?  Then  what  kind  of  nature  is  that  by 
which  they  act  apart  from  the  Divine  Will  ?  Again,  there 
is  the  question — How  do  these  deputy-forces  co-operate  in 
each  particular  phenomenon,  if  the  presiding  Will  is  not 
there  present  to  control  them  ?  Either  an  organ  which 
develops  into  fitness  for  its  function,  develops  by  the  co- 
operation of  these  forces  under  the  direction  of  Mind  then 
present,  or  it  so  develops  in  the  absence  of  Mind.  If  ic 
develops  in  the  absence  of  Mind,  the  hypothesis  is  given 
up ;  and  if  the  "  originating  Mind  "  is  required  to  be  then 
and  there  present,  we  must  suppose  a  particular  providence 
to  be  present  in  each  particular  organ  of  each  particular 
creature  throughout  the  universe.  Once  more  there  is 
the  question — If  "  His  thought  is  related  to  them  [these 
Forces]  as,  in  Man,  the  mental  force  is  related  to  all 
below  it,"  how  can  ''His  thought"  be  regarded  as  the 
cause  of  Evolution  ?  In  man  the  mental  force  is  related 
to  the  forces  below  it  neither  as  a  creator  of  them  nor  as  a 
regulator  of  them,  save  in  a  very  limited  way :  the  greater 
J  art  of  the  forces  present  in  man,  both  structural  and 
functional,  defy  the  mental  force  absolutely.  Nay,  more, 
it  needs  but  to  injure  a  nerve  to  see  that  the  power  of  the 
mental  force  over  the  physical  forces  is  dependent  on 
conditions  which  are  themselves  physical;  and  one  who 
takes  morphia  in  mistake  for  magnesip,,  discovers  that  the 


MR.    MARTINEAU   ON    EVOLUTION.  383 

power  of  the  physical  forces  over  the  mental  is  Mncon- 
ditioned  by  any  thing  mental. 

Not  dwelling  on  these  questions,  however,  I  will  merely 
draw  attention  to  the  entire  incongruity  of  this  conception 
with  the  previous  conception  which  I  have  quoted.  Assum- 
ing that^  when  the  choice  is  pressed  on  him,  Mr.  Martineou 
will  choose  the  first,  which  alone  has  any  thing  like  defen- 
gibility,  let  us  go  on  to  ask  how  far  Evolution  is  made  more 
comprehensible  by  postulating  Mind,  universally  immanent, 
as  its  cause. 

In  metaphysical  controversy,  many  of  the  propositions 
propounded  and  accepted  as  quite  believable,  are  absolutely 
inconceivable.  There  is  a  perpetual  confusing  of  actual 
ideas  with  what  are  nothing  but  pseud-ideas.  No  distinc- 
tion is  made  between  propositions  that  contain  real  thoughts, 
and  propositions  that  are  only  the  forms  of  thoughts.  A 
thinkable  proposition  is  one  of  which  the  two  terms  can  he 
brought  together  in  consciovsness  iinder  the  relation  said  to 
exist  between  them.  But  very  often,  when  the  subject  of  a 
proposition  has  been  thought  of  as  something  known,  and 
when  the  predicate  has  been  thought  of  as  something 
known,  and  when  the  relation  alleged  between  them 
has  been  thought  of  as  a  known  relation,  it  is  supposed 
that  the  proposition  itself  has  been  thought.  The  thinking 
separately  of  the  elements  of  a  proposition  is  mistaken  i'or 
the  thinking  of  them  in  the  combination  which  the  propo- 
sition affirms.  And  hence  it  continually  happens  that  pi*o- 
positions  which  cannot  be  rendered  into  thought  at  all,  are 
supposed  to  be  not  only  thought  but  believed.  The  propo-- 
sition  that  Evolution  is  caused  by  Mind  is  one  of  this  nature. 
The  two  terms  are  separately  intelligible  ;  but  they  can  be 
regarded  in  the  relation  of  efFtct  and  cause  only  so  long  as 
no  attempt  is  made  to  put  them  together  in  this  relation. 

'1  he  only  thing  which  any  one  knows  as  Mind  is  the  series 
of  his  own  states  of  consciousness;  and  if  he  thinks  of  any 
mind  other  than  his  own^  ho  can  think  of  it  only  in  terma 


384  MR.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION. 

derived  from  Lis  own.  If  I  am  asked  to  frame  a  notion  of 
Mind  divested  of  all  those  structural  traits  under  which 
alone  I  am  conscious  of  mind  in  myself,  I  cannot  do  it.  1 
know  nothing  of  thought  save  as  carried  on  in  ideas  origi- 
nally traceable  to  the  effects  wrought  by  objects  and  forces 
on  me.  A  mental  act  is  an  unintelligible  phrase  if  I  am 
not  to  regard  it  as  an  act  in  which  states  of  consciousness 
are  severally  known  as  like  other  states  in  the  series  that 
has  gone  by,  and  in  which  the  relations  between  them  are 
severally  known  as  like  past  relations  in  the  series.  If, 
then,  I  have  to  conceive  Evolution  as  caused  by  an  "  origi- 
nating Mind/'  I  must  conceive  this  Mind  as  having  attri- 
butes akin  to  those  of  the  only  mind  I  know,  and  without 
which  I  cannot  conceive  Mind  at  all. 

I  will  not  dwell  on  the  many  incongruities  hence  resulting, 
by  asking  how  the  "  originating  Mind '"'  is  to  be  thought  of 
as  having  states  produced  by  things  objective  to  it ;  as 
discriminatiug  among  these  states,  and  classing  them  as 
like  and  unlike ;  and  as  preferring  one  objective  result  to 
another.  I  will  simply  ask — What  happens  if  we  ascribe 
to  the  "  originating  Mind  "  the  character  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  conception  of  Mind,  that  it  consists  of  a  series  of 
states  of  consciousness  ?  Put  a  series  of  states  of  conscious- 
ness as  cause,  and  the  evolving  Universe  as  effect,  and  then 
endeavor  to  see  the  last  as  flowing  from  the  first.  I  find  it 
possible  to  imagine  in  some  dim  way  a  series  of  states  of 
consciousness  serving  as  antecedent  to  any  one  of  the  move- 
ments I  see  going  on ;  for  my  own  states  of  consciousness 
are  often  indirectly  the  antecedents  to  such  movements. 
But  how  if  I  attempt  to  think  of  such  a  series  as  antecedent 
to  all  actions  throughout  the  Universe — to  the  motions  of 
the  multitudinous  stars  through  space,  to  the  revolutions  of 
all  their  planets  round  them,  to  the  gyrations  of  all  these 
planets  on  their  axes,  to  the  infinitely-multiplied  physical 
processes  ^oing  on  in  each  of  these  suns  and  planets  ?  I 
cannot  think  of  a  single  series  of  states  of  consciousness  as 


MR.    MAKTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION.  885 

causing  even  the  relatively  sraall  gTOup  of  actions  going  on 
over  the  Earth's  surface.  I  cannot  tliink  of  it  even  as 
antecedent  to  all  the  various  winds  and  the  dissolving  clouds 
they  bear^  to  the  currents  of  all  the  rivers,  and  the  grinding 
actions  of  a,ll  the  glaciers;  still  less  can  I  think  of  it  as  an- 
tecedent to  the  infinity  of  processes  simultaneously  going 
on  in  all  the  plants  that  cover  the  globe,  from  scattered 
polar  lichens  to  crowded  tropical  palms,  and  in  all  tho 
millions  of  quadrupeds  that  roam  among  them,  and  the 
millions  of  millions  of  insects  that  buzz  about  them.  Even 
to  a  single  small  set  of  these  multitudinous  terrestrial 
changes,  I  cannot  conceive  as  antecedent  a  single  series  of 
states  of  consciousness — cannot,  for  instance,  think  of  it  as 
causing  the  hundred  thousand  breakers  that  are  at  this 
instant  curling  over  on  the  shores  of  England.  How,  then, 
is  it  possible  for  me  to  conceive  an  "  originating  Mind,'' 
which  I  must  represent  to  myself  as  a  mvgle  series  of 
states  of  consciousness,  working  the  infinitely-multiplied 
sets  of  changes  simultaneously  going  on  in  worlds  too 
numerous  to  count,  dispersed  throughout  a  space  that  baffles 
imagination  ? 

If,  to  account  for  this  infinitude  of  physical  changes 
everywhere  going  on,  "  Mind  must  be  conceived  as  there" 
"under  the  gui.^e  of  simple  Dynamics,"  then  the  reply  is 
that,  to  be  so  conceived,  Mind  must  be  divested  of  all  attri- 
butes by  which  it  is  distinguished ;  and  th.it,  when  thus 
divested  of  its  distinguishing  attributes,  the  conception 
disappears— the  word  Mind  stands  for  a  blank.  If  Mr. 
Martineau  takes  refuge  in  the  entirely  different  and,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  incongruous  hypothesis  of  something  like  ii 
plurality  of  minds — if  he  accepts,  as  he  seems  to  do,  the 
doctrine  that  you  cannot  explain  Evolution  "  unless  among 
your  primordial  elements  you  scatter  already  the  (jt^nits  of 
]\Iind  as  well  as  the  inferior  elements" — if  the  insuperable 
dilliculties  I  have  just  pointed  out  are  to  benietb}^  a:ssumiug 
a  local  scries  of  statuc>  uf  consciousness  for  each  pljen(>mcnou, 


386  MR.    MARTINEAU   ON    EVOLUTION. 

then  wo  are  obviously  carried  back  to  sometliing  like  tie 
alleged  feticbistic  notion,  with  the  difference  only,  that  the 
assumed  spiritual  agencies  are  indefinitely  multiplied. 

Clearly,  therefore,  the  proposition  that  an  ''originating 
Mind"  is  the  cause  of  Evolution,  is  a  proposition  that  can 
be  entertained  so  long  only  as  no  attempt  is  made  to  unite 
in  thought  its  two  terms  in  the  alleged  relation.  That 
it  should  be  accepted  as  a  matter  of  faith,  may  be  a  de- 
fensible position,  provided  good  cause  is  shown  why  it 
should  be  so  accepted ;  but  that  it  should  be  accepted  as 
a  matter  of  understanding — as  a  statement  making  the 
order  of  the  universe  comprehensible — is  a  quite  indefen- 
sible position. 

Here  let  me  guard  myself  against  a  misinterpretation 
very  likely  to  be  put  upon  the  foregoing  arguments  ; 
especially  by  those  who  have  read  the  Essay  to  which 
they  reply.  The  statements  of  that  Essay  carry  the  im- 
plication that  all  who  adhere  to  the  hypothesis  it  combats, 
imagine  they  have  solved  the  mystery  of  things  when  they 
have  shown  the  processes  of  Evolution  to  be  naturally 
caused.  Mr.  Martineau  tacitly  represents  them  as  believ- 
ing that,  when  every  thing  has  been  interpreted  in  terms 
of  Matter  and  Motion,  nothing  remains  to  be  explained. 
This,  however,  is  by  no  means  the  fact.  The  Doctrine  of 
Evolution,  under  its  purely  scientific  form,  does  not  involve 
Materialism,  though  its  opponents  persistently  represent 
it  as  doing  so.  Indeed,  among  adherents  of  it  who  are 
friends  of  mine,  there  are  those  who  speak  of  the  Material- 
ism of  Buechner  and  his  school,  with  a  contempt  certainly 
not  less  than  that  felt  by  Mr.  Martineau.  To  show  how 
anti-materialistic  my  own  view  is,  I  may,  perhaps,  without 
impropriety,  quote  some  out  of  many  passages  which  I 
have  written  on  the  question  elsewhere  : 

"  Hence   though  of  the  two  it  seems  easier  to  translate  so-called  Matter 
Into  so-caUed  Spirit,  than  to  translate  so-called  Spiiit  into  so-called  Mattel 


ME.    MARTINEAU    ON    EVOLUTION.  387 

{which  latter  is,  indeed,  wholly  impossible) ;  yet  nc  translation  can  carry  ua 
beyond  our  symbols."  * 

And  again  : 

"  See  then  our  predicament.  We  can  think  of  Matter  only  in  termp.  of 
Mind.  We  can  think  of  Mind  only  in  terms  of  Matter,  When  we  have 
pushed  our  explorations  of  the  first  to  the  uttermost  limit,  we  are  referred  to 
the  second  for  a  final  answer ;  and,  when  we  have  got  the  final  answer  of  the 
second,  we  are  referred  back  to  the  first  for  an  interpretation  of  it.  We  find 
the  value  of  x  in  terms  of  y ;  then  we  find  the  value  of  y  in  terms  of  x ; 
and  so  on  we  may  continue  forever  without  coming  nearer  to  a  solution. 
The  antithesis  of  subject  and  object,  never  to  be  transcended  while  conscious- 
ness lasts,  renders  impossible  all  knowledge  of  that  Ultimate  Reality  in  which 
subject  and  object  are  united,"  f 

It  is  thus,  I  tliink,  manifest  that  the  difference  between 
Mr.  Martineau's  view  and  the  view  he  opposes  is  by  no 
means  so  wide  as  he  makes  it  appear;  and  further,  it 
seems  to  me  that  such  difference  as  exists  is  rather  the 
reverse  of  that  indicated  by  his  exposition.  Briefly  ex- 
pressed, the  difference  is  that,  where  he  thinks  there  is  no 
mystery,  the  doctrine  he  combats  recognizes  a  mystery. 
Speaking  for  myself  only,  I  may  say  that,  agreeing  entirely 
with  Mr.  Martin eau  in  repudiating  the  materialistic  inter- 
pretation as  utterly  futile,  I  differ  from  him  simply  in  this, 
that  while  he  says  he  has  found  another  interpretation,  I 
confess  that  I  cannot  find  any  interpretation;  while  he 
holds  that  he  can  understand  the  Power  which  is  mani- 
fested in  things,  I  feel  obliged  to  admit,  after  many  fail- 
ures, that  I  cannot  understand  it.  So  that,  in  presence  of 
the  transcendent  problem  which  the  universe  presents,  Mr. 
Martineau  regards  the  human  intellect  as  capable,  and  I  as 
incapable.  This  contrast  does  not  appear  to  me  of  the  kind 
which  his  Essay  tacitly  asserts.  If  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  the  "pride  of  Science,"  it  is  obviously  exceeded  by  the 
pride  of  Theology.  I  fail  to  perceive  humility  in  the  belief 
that  the  human  mind  is  able  to  comprehend  that  which  is 
behind  appearances ;  and  I  do  not  see  how  piety  is  espe- 

*  Principles  of  Psychology,  second  edition,  vol.  i.,  §  63. 
t  Ibid.,  §  272! 


388  MK.    MARTINEAU    ON    F.VOLDTION. 

ciallj  exemplified  in  the  assertion  that  tlie  Universe  contains 
no  mode  of  existence  higher  in  Nature  than  that  which  is 
present  to  us  in  consciousness.  On  the  contrary,  1  think  it 
quite  a  defensible  proposition  that  hurailifc^^  is  better  shown 
by  a  confession  of  incompetence  to  grasp  in  thought  the 
(Cause  of  all  things ;  and  that  the  religious  sentiment  may 
find  its  highest  sphere  in  the  belief  that  the  Ultimate  Power 
is  no  more  representable  in  terms  of  human  consciousness 
than  human  consciousness  is  representable  in  terms  of  a 
plant's  functions. 


THE  FACTORS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION. 

{^First  published  in   The  Nineteenth   Century,  for  April  and 
May,  1886.] 

I. 

Within  the  recollection  of  men  now  in  middle  life,  opinion 
concerning  the  derivation  of  animals  and  plants  was  in 
a  chaotic  state.  Among  the  unthinking  there  was  tacit 
belief  in  creation  by  miracle,  which  formed  an  essential 
part  of  the  creed  of  Christendom ;  and  among  the  thinking 
there  were  two  parties,  each  of  which  held  an  indefensible 
hypothesis.  Immensely  the  larger  of  these  parties,  includ- 
ing nearly  all  whose  scientific  culture  gave  Aveight  to  their 
judgments,  though  not  accepting*  literally  the  theologically- 
orthodox  doctrine,  made  a  compromise  between  that  doctrine 
and  the  doctrines  which  geologists  had  established;  while 
opposed  to  them  were  some,  mostly  having  no  authority  in 
science,  who  held  a  doctrine  which  was  heterodox  both 
theologically  and  scientifically.  Professor  Huxley,  in  his 
lecture  on  "  The  Coming  of  Age  of  the  Origin  of  Species," 
remarks  concerning  the  first  of  these  parties  as  follows : — 

"  One-and-twenty  years  ago,  in  spite  of  the  work  commenced  by  Hutton 
and  continued  with  rare  skill  and  patience  by  Lyell,  the  dominant  view  of  tlie 
past  history  of  the  earth  was  catastrophic.  Great  and  sudden  physical 
revolutions,  wholesale  creations  and  extinctions  of  living  beings,  were  the 
ordinary  machinery  of  the  geological  epic  brought  into  fashion  by  the  mis- 
applied genius  of  Cuvier.  It  was  gravely  maintained  and  taught  that  the 
end  of  every  geological  epoch  was  signalised  by  a  cataclysm,  by  which  every 
living  being  on  the  globe  was  swept  away,  to  be  replaced  by  a  brand-new 
creation  when  the  world  returned  to  quiescence.     A  scheme  of  natui-e  which 


390  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

appeared  to  be  modelled  on  the  likeness  of  a  succession  of  rubbers  of  wliist, 
at  the  end  of  each  of  which  the  players  upset  the  table  and  called  for  a  new 
pack,  did  not  seem  to  shock  anybody. 

I  may  be  wrong,  but  1  doubt  if,  at  the  present  time,  there  is  a  single 
responsible  representative  of  these  opinions  left.  The  progress  of  scientific 
geology  has  elevated  the  fundament  principle  of  uniformitarianism.  that  the 
explanation  of  the  past  is  to  be  sought  in  the  study  of  the  present,  into  the 
position  of  an  axiom  ;  and  the  wild  speculations  of  the  catastrophists,  to 
which  we  all  listened  with  respect  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  would  hardly 
find  a  single  patient  hearer  at  the  present  day." 

Of  the  party  above  referred  to  as  not  satisfied  with  this 

conception  described  by  Professor  Huxley,  there  were  two 

chisses.     The  great  majority  were  admirers  of  the  Vestiges 

of  the  Natural  History  of  Creation — a  work  which,  while  it 

sought    to  show  that  organic  evolution  has  taken  place, 

contended   that   the   cause   of   organic   evolution,    is   "  an 

impulse"   supernaturally  "imparted  to  the  forms  of  life, 

advancing  them,    .    .    .    through  grades  of  organization." 

Being    nearly  all  very  inadequately  acquainted  with  the 

facts,  those  who  accepted  the  view  set  forth  in  the  Vestiges 

were  ridiculed  by  the  well-instructed  for  being  satisfied 

with  evidence,  much  of  which  was  either  invalid  or  easily 

cancelled  by  counter-evidence,  and  at  the  same  time  they 

exposed  themselves  to  the  ridicule  of  the  more  philosophical 

for  being  content  with  a  supposed  explanation  which  was 

in  reality  no  explanation:  the  alleged  "impulse"  to  advance 

giving  us  no  more  help  in  understanding  the  facts  than 

does  Nature's  alleged   "abhorrence  of   a   vacuum"    help 

us  to  understand  the  ascent  of  water  in  a  pump.      The 

remnant,   forming  the   second  of  these  classes,  was  very 

small.     While  rejecting  this  mere  verbal  solution,  which 

both  Dr.   Erasmus  Darwin  and    Lamarck  had  shadowed 

forth  in  other  language,  there  were  some  few  who,  rejecting 

also   the   hypothesis   indicated   by  both   Dr.  Darwin  and 

Lamarck,  that  the  promptings  of  desires  or  wants  produced 

growths  of  the  parts  subserving  them,  accepted  the  single 

vera  causa  assigned  by  these  writers — the  modification  of 

structures  resulting  from  modification  of  functions.     They 


THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  391 

recogfnized  as  the  sole  process  in  organic  development,  tlie 
adaptation  of  parts  and  powers  consequent  on  tlie  effects  of 
use  and  disuse — that  continunl  moulding  and  re-moulding  of 
organisms  to  suit  their  circumstances,  which  is  brought 
about  by  direct  converse  with  such  circumstances. 

But  while  this  cause  accepted  by  these  few  is  a  true 
cause,  since  unquestionably  during  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual organism  changes  of  function  prodvice  changes  of 
structure;  and  while  it  is  a  tenable  hypothesis  that 
changes  of  structure  so  produced  are  inheritable ;  yet  it  was 
manifest  to  those  not  prepossessed,  that  this  cause  cannot 
with  reason  be  assigned  for  the  greater  part  of  the  facts. 
Though  in  plants  there  are  some  characters  which  ma_y  not 
irrationally  be  ascribed  to  the  direct  effects  of  modified 
functions  consequent  on  modified  circumstances,  yet  the 
majority  of  the  traits  presented  by  plants  are  not  to  be 
thus  explained.  It  is  impossible  that  the  thorns  by  which 
a  briar  is  in  large  measure  defended  against  browsing 
animals,  can  have  been  developed  and  moulded  by  the 
continuous  exercise  of  their  protective  actions ;  for  in  the 
first  place,  the  great  majority  of  the  thorns  are  never 
touched  at  all,  and,  in  the  second  place,  we  have  no  ground 
whatever  for  supposing  that  those  which  are  touched  are 
thereby  made  to  grow,  and  to  take  those  shapes  which 
render  them  efficient.  Plants  which  are  rendered  uneatable 
by  the  thick  woolly  coatings  of  their  leaves,  cannot  have 
had  these  coatings  produced  by  any  process  of  reaction 
against  the  action  of  enemies ;  for  there  is  no  imaginable 
reason  why,  if  one  part  of  a  jolaut  is  eaten,  the  rest  should 
thereafter  begin  to  develop  the  hairs  on  its  surface.  By 
what  direct  effect  of  function  on  structure,  can  the  shell  of 
a  nut  have  been  evolved  ?  Or  how  can  those  seeds  which 
contain  essential  oils,  rendering  them  unpalatable  to  birds, 
have  been  made  to  secrete  such  essential  oils  by  these 
actions  of  birds  which  they  restrain  ?  Or  how  can  the 
delicate  plumes  borne  by  some  seeds,  and  giving  the  wind 
26 


392  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

power  to  "waffc  tliem  to  new  stations,  be  due  to  any  ira-^e- 
diate  influences  of  surrounding  conditions  ?  Clearly  in  these 
and  in  countless  other  cases,  change  of  structure  cannot 
have  been  directly  caused  by  change  of  function.  So 
is  it  with  animals  to  a  large  extent,  if  not  to  the  same 
extent.  Though  we  have  proof  that  by  rough  usage  the 
dermal  layer  may  be  so  excited  as  to  produce  a  gi'eatly 
thickened  epidermal  layer,  sometimes  quite  horny;  and 
though  it  is  a  feasible  hypothesis  that  an  effect  of  this  kind 
persistently  produced  may  be  inherited ;  yet  no  such  cause 
can  explain  the  carapace  of  the  turtle,  the  armour  of  the 
armadillo,  or  the  imbricated  covering  of  the  mauis.  The 
skins  of  these  animals  are  no  more  exposed  to  habitual 
hard  usage  than  are  those  of  animals  covered  by  hair. 
The  strange  excrescences  which  distinguish  the  heads  of 
the  hornbills,  cannot  possibly  have  arisen  from  any  reaction 
ao^ainst  the  action  of  surrounding:  forces  ;  for  even  were 
they  clearly  protective,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  heads  of  these  birds  need  protection  more  than  the 
heads  of  other  birds.  If,  led  by  the  evidence  that  in 
animals  the  amount  of  covering  is  in  some  cases  affected  by 
the  degree  of  exposure,  it  were  admitted  as  imaginable  that 
the  development  of  feathers  from  preceding  dermal  growths 
had  resulted  from  that  extra  nutrition  caused  by  extra 
superficial  circulation,  we  should  still  be  without  explana- 
tion of  the  structure  of  a  feather.  Nor  should  we  have  any 
clue  to  the  specialities  of  feathers — the  crests  of  various 
birds,  the  tails  sometimes  so  enormous,  the  curiously  placed 
plumes  of  the  bird  of  paradise,  &c.,  &c.  Still  more 
obviously  impossible  is  it  to  explain  as  due  to  use  or  disuse 
the  colours  of  animals.  No  direct  adaptation  to  function 
could  have  produced  the  blue  protuberances  on  a  mandril's 
face,  or  the  striped  hide  of  a  tiger,  or  the  gorgeous  plumage 
of  a  kingfisher,  or  the  eyes  in  a  peacock's  tail,  or  the 
multitudinous  patterns  of  insects'  wings.  One  single  case, 
that  of  a  deer's  horns,  might  alone  have  sufficed  to  show 


THE  FACTORS  OP  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION.        393 

how  insuCicient  was  the  assigned  cause.  During  tlieir 
growth,  a  deer's  horns  are  not  used  at  all;  and  when, 
having  been  cleared  of  the  dead  skin  and  dricd-up  blood- 
vessels covering  them,  they  are  ready  for  use,  they  are 
nerveless  and  non-vascular,  and  hence  are  incapable  of 
undergoing  any  changes  of  structure  consequent  on  changes 
of  function. 

Of  these  few  then,  who  rejected  the  belief  described  by 
Professor  Huxley,  and  who,  espousing  the  belief  in  a 
continuous  evolution,  had  to  account  for  this  evolution,  it 
must  be  said  that  though  the  cause  assigned  was  a  true 
cause,  yet,  even  admitting  that  it  operated  through  successive 
generations,  it  left  unexplained  the  greater  part  of  the  facts. 
Having  been  myself  one  of  these  few,  I  look  back  with 
surprise  at  the  way  in  which  the  facts  which  were  congruous 
with  the  espoused  view  monopolized  consciousness  and  kept 
out  the  facts  which  were  incongruous  with  it — conspicuous 
though  many  of  them  were.  The  misjudgment  was  not 
unnatural.  Finding  it  impossible  to  accept  any  doctrine 
which  implied  a  breach  in  the  uniform  course  of  natural 
causation,  and,  by  implication,  accepting  as  unquestionable 
the  origin  and  development  of  all  organic  forms  by 
accumulated  modifications  naturally  caused,  that  which 
appeared  to  explain  certain  classes  of  these  modifications, 
was  supposed  to  be  capable  of  explaining  the  rest :  the 
tendency  being  to  assume  that  these  would  eventually  be 
similarly  accounted  for,  though  it  was  not  clear  how. 

Returning  from  this  parenthethic  remark,  we  are  con- 
cerned here  chiefly  to  remember  that,  as  said  at  the  outset, 
there  existed  thirty  years  ago,  no  tenable  theory  about 
the  genesis  of  living  things.  Of  the  two  alternative  beliefs, 
neither  would  bear  critical  examination. 

Out  of  this  dead  lock  we  were  released — in  large  measure, 
though  not  I  believe  entirely — by  the  Origin  of  Specien. 
That  work  brought  into  view  a  further  factor;  or  rather, 


394  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

such  factor,  recognized  as  in  operation  by  here  and  there 
an  observer  (as  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Darwin  in  his  intro- 
duction to  the  second  edition) ,  was  by  him  for  the  first  time 
seen  to  have  played  so  immense  a  part  in  the  genesis  of 
plants  and  animals. 

Though  laying  myself  open  to  the  charge  of  telling  a 
thrice-told  tale,  I  feel  obliged  here  to  indicate  briefly  the 
several  great  classes  of  facts  which  Mr.  Darwin's  hypothesis 
explains;  because  otherwise  that  which  follows  would 
scarcely  be  understood.  And  I  feel  the  less  hesitation  in 
doing  this  because  the  hypothesis  which  it  replaced,  not 
very  widely  known  at  any  time,  has  of  late  so  completely 
dropped  into  the  background,  that  the  majority  of  readers 
are  scarcely  aware  of  its  existence,  and  do  not  therefore 
understand  the  relation  between  Mr.  Darwin's  successful 
interpretation  and  the  preceding  unsuccessful  attempt  at 
interpretation.  Of  these  classes  of  facts,  four  chief  ones 
may  be  here  distinguished. 

In  the  first  place,  such  adjustments  as  those  exemplified 
above  are  made  comprehensible.  Though  it  is  inconceiv- 
able that  a  structure  like  that  of  the  pitcher-plant  could 
have  been  produced  by  accumulated  effects  of  function 
on  structure ;  yet  it  is  conceivable  that  successive  selections 
of  favourable  variations  might  have  produced  it ;  and  the 
like  holds  of  the  no  less  remarkable  appliance  of  the 
Venus's  Fly-trap,  or  the  still  more  astonishing  one  of  that 
water-plant  by  which  infant-fish  are  captured.  Though  it  is 
impossible  to  imagine  how,  by  direct  influence  of  increased 
use,  such  dermal  appendages  as  a  porcupine's  quills  could 
have  been  developed ;  yet,  profiting  as  the  members  of  a 
species  otherwise  defenceless  might  do  by  the  stiffness  of 
their  hairs,  rendering  them  unpleasant  morsels  to  eat,  it  is 
a  feasible  supposition  that  from  successive  survivals  of 
individuals  thus  defended  in  the  greatest  degrees,  and  the 
consequent  growth  in  successive  generations  of  hairs  into 
bristles,  bristles  into  spines,  spines  into  quills  (for  all  these 


THE    FACTORS    OF   OllGANIC    EVOLUTION.  395 

are  homologous),  this  change  could  have  arisen.  In  like 
manner,  the  odd  inflatable  bag  of  the  bladder-nosed  seal,  the 
curious  fishing-rod  with  its  worm-like  appendage  carried  on 
the  head  of  the  lophius  or  angler,  the  spurs  on  the  wings  of 
certain  birds,  the  weapons  of  the  sword-fish  and  saw-fish, 
the  wattles  of  fowls,  and  numberless  such  peculiar  struc' 
tures,  though  by  no  possibility  explicable  as  due  to  effects 
of  use  or  disuse,  are  explicable  as  resulting  from  natural 
selection  operating  in  one  or  other  way. 

In  the  second  place,  while  showing  us  how  there  have 
arisen  countless  modifications  in  the  forms,  structures, 
and  colours  of  each  part,  Mr.  Darwin  has  shown  us  how, 
by  the  establishment  of  favourable  variations,  there  may 
arise  new  parts.  Though  the  first  step  in  the  production 
of  horns  on  the  heads  of  various  herbivorous  animals,  may 
have  been  the  growth  of  callosities  consequent  on  the 
habit  of  butting — such  callosities  thus  functionally  initiated 
being  afterwards  developed  in  the  most  advantageous  ways 
by  selection ;  yet  no  explanation  can  be  thus  given  of  the 
sudden  appearance  of  a  duplicate  set  of  horns,  as  occasion- 
ally happens  in  sheep :  an  addition  which,  where  it  proved 
beneficial,  might  readily  be  made  a  permanent  trait  by 
natural  selection.  Ag'ain,  the  modifications  which  follow  use 
and  disuse  can  by  no  possibility  account  for  changes  in  the 
numbers  of  vertebrae ;  but  after  recognizing  spontaneous, 
or  rather  fortuitous,  variation  as  a  factor,  we  can  see 
that  where  an  additional  vertebra  hence  resulting  (as 
in  some  pigeons)  proves  beneficial,  survival  of  the  fittest 
may  make  it  a  constant  character;  and  there  may,  by 
further  like  additions,  be  produced  extremely  long  strings 
of  vertebrae,  such  as  snakes  show  us.  Similarly  with  the 
mammary  glands.  It  is  not  an  unreasonable  supposition 
that  by  the  effects  of  greater  or  less  function,  inherited 
through  successive  generations,  these  may  be  enlarged  or 
diminished  in  size;  but  it  is  out  of  the  question  to  allege 
Buch  a  cause  for  chansros  'u  their  numbers.     There  is  no 


•^ 


396  THE    FACTORS    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

imaginable  explanation  of  these  save  the  establishment  by 
inheritance  of  spontaneous  variations^  such  as  are  known 
to  occur  in  the  human  race. 

So  too,  in  the  third  place,  with  certain  alterations  in  the 
connexions  of  parts.  According-  to  the  greater  or  smaller 
demands  made  on  this  or  that  limb,  the  muscles  moving 
it  may  be  augmented  or  diminished  in  bulk;  and,  if  there 
is  inheritance  of  changes  so  wrought,  the  limb  may,  in 
course  of  generations,  be  rendered  larger  or  smaller.  But 
chansres  in  the  arrang^ements  or  attachments  of  muscles 
cannot  be  thus  accounted  for.  It  is  found,  especially  at 
the  extremities,  that  the  relations  of  tendons  to  bones  and 
to  one  another  are  not  always  the  same.  Variations  in 
their  modes  of  connexion  may  occasionally  prove  advan- 
tageous, and  may  thus  become  established.  Here  again, 
then,  we  have  a  class  of  structural  changes  to  which 
Mr.  Darwin's  hypothesis  gives  us  the  key,  and  to  which 
there  is  no  other  key. 

Once  more  there  are  the  phenomena  of  mimicry.  Per- 
haps in  a  more  striking  way  than  any  others,  these  show 
how  traits  which  seem  inexplicable  are  explicable  as  due 
to  the  more  frequent  survival  of  individuals  that  have 
varied  in  favourable  ways.  We  are  enabled  to  understand 
such  marvellous  simulations  as  those  of  the  leaf-insect, 
those  of  beetles  which  "  resemble  glittering  dew-drops  upon 
the  leaves;''  those  of  caterpillars  which,  when  asleep, 
stretch  themselves  out  so  as  to  look  like  twigs.  And  we 
are  shown  how  there  have  arisen  still  more  astonishing 
imitations — those  of  one  insect  by  another.  As  Mr.  Bates 
has  proved,  there  are  cases  in  which  a  species  of  butter- 
fly, rendered  so  unpalatable  to  insectivorous  birds  by  its 
disagreeable  taste  that  they  will  not  catch  it,  is  simulated 
in  its  colours  and  markings  by  a  species  which  is  struc- 
turally quite  different — so  simulated  that  even  a  practised 
entomologist  is  liable  to  be  deceived  :  the  explanation  being" 
that  an  original  slight  resemblance,  leading  to  occasional 


THE  FACTORS  OP  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION.         397 

mistakes  on  tte  part  of  birds,  was  increased  generation 
after  generation  by  tlie  more  frequent  escape  of  the  most- 
like individuals,  until  tbe  likeness  became  tbus  great. 

But  now,  recognizing  in  full  this  process  brought  into 
clear  view  by  Mr.  Darwin,  and  traced  out  by  him  with  so 
much  care  and  skill,  can  we  conclude  that,  taken  alone,  it 
accounts  for  organic  evolution  ?  Has  the  natural  selection 
of  favourable  variations  been  the  sole  factor?  On  critically 
examining  the  evidence,  we  shall  find  reason  to  think  that 
it  by  no  means  explains  all  that  has  to  be  explained. 
Omitting  for  the  present  any  consideration  of  a  factor 
which  may  be  distinguished  as  primordial,  it  may  be  con- 
tended that  the  above-named  factor  alleged  by  Dr.  Erasmus 
Darwin  and  by  Lamarck,  must  be  recognized  as  a  co- 
operator.  Utterly  inadequate  to  explain  the  major  part  of 
the  facts  as  is  the  hypothesis  of  the  inheritance  of  func- 
tionally-produced modifications,  yet  there  is  a  minor  part 
of  the  facts,  very  extensive  though  less,  which  must  be 
ascribed  to  this  cause. 

When  discussing  the  question  more  than  twenty  years 
ago  {Principles  of  Biology,  §  166),  I  instanced  the  decreased 
size  of  the  jaws  in  the  civilized  races  of  mankind,  as  a 
change  not  accounted  for  by  the  natural  selection  of 
favourable  variations ;  since  no  one  of  the  decrements  by 
which,  in  thousands  of  years,  this  reduction  has  been 
effected,  could  have  given  to  an  individual  in  which  it 
occurred,  such  advantage  as  would  cause  his  survival, 
either  through  diminished  cost  of  local  nutrition  or  dimi- 
nished weight  to  be  carried.  I  did  not  then  exclude,  as  I 
might  have  done,  two  other  imaginable  causes.  It  may 
be  said  that  there  is  some  organic  correlation  between 
increased  size  of  brain  and  decreased  size  of  jaw :  Camper's 
doctrine  of  the  facial  angle  being  referred  to  in  proof. 
But  this  argument  may  be  met  by  pointing  to  the  many 
examples  of  small-jawed  people  who  are  also  small-brained. 


398  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGAKIC   EVOLUTION. 

and  by  citing  not  infrequent  cases  of  individuals  remark- 
able for  their  mental  powers,  and  at  the  same  time 
distinguished  by  jaws  not  less  than  the  average  but 
greater.  Again,  if  sexual_selection  be  named  as  a  possible 
cause,  there  is  the  reply  that,  even  supposing  such  slight 
diminution  of  jaw  as  took  place  in  a  single  generation  to 
have  been  an  attraction,  yet  the  other  incentives  to  choice 
on  the  part  of  men  have  been  too  many  and  great  to  allow 
this  one  to  weigh  in  an  adequate  degree ;  while,  during 
the  greater  portion  of  the  period,  choice  on  the  part  of 
women  has  scarcely  operated :  in  earlier  times  they  were 
stolen  or  bought,  and  in  later  times  mostly  coerced  by 
parents.  Thus,  reconsideration  of  the  facts  does  not  show 
me  the  invalidity  of  the  conclusion  drawn,  that  this 
decrease  in  size  of  jaw  can  have  had  no  other  cause  than 
continued  inheritance  of  those  diminutions  consequent 
on  diminutions  of  function,  implied  by  the  use  of 
selected  and  well-prepared  food.  Here,  however,  my 
chief  purpose  is  to  add  an  instance  showing,  even 
more  clearly,  the  connexion  between  change  of  func- 
tion and  change  of  structure.  This  instance,  allied  in 
nature  to  the  other,  is  presented  by  those  varieties,  or 
rather  sub-varieties,  of  dogs,  which,  having  been  household 
pets,  and  habitually  fed  on  soft  food,  have  not  been  called 
on  to  use  their  jaws  in  tearing  and  crunching,  and  have 
been  but  rarely  allowed  to  use  them  in  catching  prey  and  in 
fighting.  No  inference  can  be  drawn  from  the  sizes  of  the 
jaws  themselves,  which,  in  these  dogs,  have  probably  been 
shortened  mainly  by  selection.  To  get  direct  proof  of  the 
decrease  of  the  muscles  concerned  in  closing  the  jaws  or 
biting,  would  require  a  series  of  observations  very  difficult 
to  make.  But  it  is  not  difficult  to  get  indirect  proof  of  this 
decrease  by  looking  at  the  bony  structures  with  which 
these  muscles  are  connected.  Examination  of  the  skulls 
of  sundry  indoor  dogs  contained  in  the  Museum  of  the 
College  of  Surgeons,  proves  the  relative  smallness  of  such 


THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTIOK.  399 

parts.  Tlie  only  pug-dog's  skull  is  tliat  of  an  individual 
not  perfectly  adult;  and  though  its  traits  are  quite  to  the 
point  they  cannot  with  safety  be  taken  as  evidence.  The 
Bkull  of  a  toy-terrier  has  much  restricted  areas  of  insertion 
for  the  temporal  muscles;  has  weak  zygomatic  arches;  and 
lias  extremely  small  attachments  for  the  masseter  muscles. 
Still  more  significant  is  the  evidence  furnished  by  the  skull 
of  a  King  Charles's  spaniel,  which,  if  we  allow  three  years 
to  a  generation,  and  bear  in  mind  that  the  variety  must 
have  existed  before  Charles  the  Second's  reign,  we  may 
assume  belongs  to  something  approaching  to  the  hundredth 
generation  of  these  household  pets.  The  relative  breadth 
between  the  outer  surfaces  of  the  zygomatic  arches  is  con- 
spicuously small ;  the  narrowness  of  the  temporal  fossae  is 
also  striking;  the  zygomata  are  very  slender;  the  temporal 
muscles  have  left  no  marks  whatever,  either  by  limiting 
lines  or  by  the  character  of  the  surfaces  covered ;  and  the 
places  of  attachment  for  the  masseter  muscles  are  very 
feebly  developed.  At  the  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
among  skulls  of  dogs  there  is  one  which,  though  unnamed, 
is  shown  by  its  small  size  .and  by  its  teeth,  to  have  belonged 
to  one  variety  or  other  of  lap-dogs,  and  which  has  the  same 
traits  in  an  equal  degree  with  the  skull  just  described. 
Here,  then,  we  have  two  if  not  three  kinds  of  dogs  which, 
similarly  leading  protected  and  pampered  lives,  show  that 
in  the  course  of  generations  the  parts  concerned  in  clench- 
ing the  jaws  have  dwindled.  To  what  cause  must  this 
decrease  be  ascribed  ?  Certainly  not  to  artificial  selection; 
for  most  of  the  modifications  named  make  no  appreciable 
external  signs :  the  width  across  the  zygomata  could  alone 
be  perceived.  Neither  can  natural  selection  have  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  it ;  for  even  were  there  any  struggle  for 
existence  among  such  dogs,  it  cannot  be  contended  that 
any  advantage  in  the  struggle  could  be  gained  by  an 
individual  in  which  a  decrease  took  place.  Economy  of 
nutrition,  too,  is  excluded.     Abundantly  fed  as  such  doga 


400  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTIOJf. 

are,  the  constitutional  tendency  is  to  find  places  "where 
excess  of  absorbed  nutriment  may  be  conveniently  deposited, 
rather  than  to  find  places  where  some  cutting  down  of  the 
supplies  is  practicable.  Nor  again  can  there  be  alleged  a 
possible  correlation  between  these  diminutions  and  that 
shortening  of  the  jaws  which  has  probably  resulted  from 
selection ;  for  in  the  bull-dog,  which  has  also  relatively 
short  jaws,  these  structures  concerned  in  closing  them 
are  unusually  large.  Thus  there  remains  as  the  only  con- 
w  ceivable  cause,  the  diminution  of  size  which  results  from 
diminished  use.  The  dwindling  of  a  little-exercised  part 
has,  by  inheritance,  been  made  more  and  more  marked  in 
successive  generations. 

Difiiculties  of  another  class  may  next  be  exemplified — 
those  which  present  themselves  when  we  ask  how  there  can 
be  effected  by  the  selection  of  favourable  variations,  such 
changes  of  structure  as  adapt  an  organism  to  some  useful 
action  in  which  many  different  parts  co-operate.  None  can 
fail  to  see  how  a  simple  part  may,  in  course  of  generations, 
be  greatly  enlarged,  if  each  enlargement  furthers,  in  some 
decided  way,  maintenance  of  the  species.  It  is  easy  to 
understand,  too,  how  a  complex  part,  as  an  entire  limb, 
may  be  increased  as  a  whole  by  the  simultaneous  due 
increase  of  its  co-operative  parts ;  since  if,  while  it  is 
growing,  the  channels  of  supply  bring  to  the  limb  an 
unusual  quantity  of  blood,  there  will  naturally  result  a 
proportionately  greater  size  of  all  its  components — bones, 
muscles,  arteries,  veins,  &c.  But  though  in  cases  like  this, 
the  co-operative  parts  forming  some  large  complex  part 
may  be  expected  to  vary  together,  nothing  implies  that 
they  necessarily  do  so ;  and  we  have  proof  that  in  various 
cases,  even  when  closely  united,  they  do  not  do  so.  An 
example  is  furnished  by  those  blind  crabs  named  in  the 
Origin  of  Species  which  inhabit  certain  dark  caves  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  which,  though  they  have  lost  their  eyes,  have 


THE    FACTORS    OF    GRQANIC    EVOLUTION.  401 

not  lost  the  foot-stalks  whicli  carried  their  eyes.  In 
describing  the  varieties  which  have  been  produced  by 
pigeon-fanciers,  Mr.  Darwin  notes  the  facb  that  along  with 
changes  in  length  of  beak  produced  by  selection,  there  have 
not  gone  proportionate  changes  in  length  of  tongue.  Take 
again  the  case  of  teeth  and  jaws.  In  mankind  these  have 
not  varied  together.  During  civilization  the  jaws  have 
decreased,  but  the  teeth  have  not  decreased  in  propor- 
tion; and  hence  that  prevalent  crowding  of  them,  often 
remedied  in  childhood  by  extraction  of  some,  and  in 
other  cases  causing  that  imperfect  development  which  is 
followed  by  early  decay.  But  the  absence  of  proportionate 
variation  in  co-operative  parts  that  are  close  together,  and 
are  even  bound  up  in  the  same  mass,  is  best  seen  in  those 
varieties  of  dogs  named  above  as  illustrating  the  inherited 
effects  of  disuse.  We  see  in  them,  as  we  see  in  the  human 
race,  that  diminution  in  the  jaws  has  not  been  accompanied 
by  corresponding  diminution  in  the  teeth.  In  the  catalogue 
of  the  College  of  Surgeons  Museum,  there  is  appended  to 
the  entry  which  identifies  a  Blenheim  Spaniel's  skull,  the 
words — "the  teeth  are  closely  crowded  together,"  and  to 
the  entry  concerning  the  skull  of  a  King  Charles's  Spaniel 
the  words — "  the  teeth  are  closely  packed,  p.  3,  is  placed 
quite  transversely  to  the  axis  of  the  skull,"  It  is  further 
noteworth}'-  that  in  a  case  where  there  is  no  diminished  use 
of  the  jaws,  but  where  they  have  been  shortened  by  selection, 
a  like  want  of  concomitant  variation  is  manifested :  the  case 
being  that  of  the  bull-dog,  in  the  upper  jaw  of  which  also, 
*Hhe  premolars  .  .  .  are  excessively  crowded,  and  placed 
obliquely  or  even  transversely  to  the  long  axis  of  the  skull. "'^ 
If,  then,  in  cases  where  we  can  test  it,  we  find  no  con- 

*  It  is  probable  that  this  shortening  has  rosultod  not  directly  but  indirectly, 
from  the  selection  of  individuals  whicli  were  noted  for  tenacity  of  hold  ;  for 
the  bull-do^'s  peculiarity  in  this  respect  seems  due  to  relative  shortness  of 
the  upper  jaw,  giving  the  underhung  structure  which,  involving  retreat  ol 
the  nostrils,  enables  the  do^i  to  coutiauo  breathing  while  holding. 


402  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

comitant  variation  in  co-operative  parts  tliat  are  near 
tog-ether — if  we  do  not  find  it  in  parts  wliicli,  tliough 
belonging  to  different  tissues,  are  so  closely  united  as  teeth 
and  jaws — if  we  do  not  find  it  even  when  the  co-operative 
parts  are  not  only  closely  united,  but  are  formed  out  of  the 
same  tissue,  like  the  crab's  eye  and  its  peduncle;  what  shall 
we  say  of  co-operative  parts  which,  besides  being  composed 
of  different  tissues,  are  remote  from  one  another  ?  Not  only 
are  we  forbidden  to  assume  that  they  vary  together,  but 
we  are  warranted  in  asserting  that  they  can  have  no 
tendency  to  vary  together.  And  what  are  the  implications 
in  cases  where  increase  of  a  structure  can  be  of  no  service 
unless  there  is  concomitant  increase  in  many  distant 
structures,  which  have  to  join  it  in  performing  the  action 
for  which  it  is  useful  ? 

As  far  back  as  1864  {Principles  of  Biology,  §  166)  I  named 
in  illustration  an  animal  carrying  heavy  horns — tlie  extinct 
Irish  elk  ;  and  indicated  the  many  changes  in  bones, 
muscles,  blood-vessels,  nerves,  composing  the  fore-part  of 
the  body)  which  would  be  required  to  make  an  increment 
of  size  in  such  horns  advantageous.  Here  let  me  take 
another  instance — that  of  the  giraffe  :  an  instance  which 
I  take  partly  because,  in  the  sixth  edition  of  the  Origin 
of  Species,  issued  in  1872,  Mr.  Darwin  has  referred  to  this 
animal  when  effectually  disposing  of  certain  arguments 
urged  against  his  hypothesis.     He  there  says  : — 

"  In  order  that  an  animal  should  acquire  some  structure  specially  and 
largely  developed,  it  is  almost  indispensable  that  several  other  parts  should 
be  modified  and  co-adapted.  Although  every  part  of  the  body  varies 
slightly,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  necessary  parts  should  always  vary  in 
the  right  direction  and  to  the  right  degree  "  (p.  179). 

And  in  the  summary  of  the  chapter,  he  remarks  concerning 
the  adjustments  in  the  same  quadruped,  that  "the  pro- 
longed use  of  all  the  parts  together  with  inheritance  will 
have  aided  in  an  important  manner  in  their  co-ordination  '* 
(p.  199)  :  a  remark  probably  having  reference  chiefly  to 


THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  403 

the  increased  massiveness  of  the  lower  part  of  tlie  neck  ; 
the  increased  size  and  strength  of  the  thorax  required  to 
bear  the  additional  burden ;  and  the  increased  strength 
of  the  fore-legs  required  to  carry  the  greater  weight  of 
both.  But  now  I  think  that  further  consideration  suggests 
the  belief  that  the  entailed  modifications  are  much  more 
numerous  and  remote  than  at  first  appears;  and  that  the 
greater  part  of  these  are  such  as  cannot  be  ascribed  in  any 
degree  to  the  selection  of  favourable  variations,  but  must 
be  ascribed  exclusively  to  the  inherited  effects  of  changed 
functions.  Whoever  has  seen  a  giraffe  gallop  will  long 
remember  the  sight  as  a  ludicrous  one.  The  reason  for  the 
strangeness  of  the  motions  is  obvious.  Though  the  fore 
limbs  and  the  hind  limbs  differ  so  much  in  length,  yet  in 
galloping  they  have  to  keep  pace — must  take  equal  strides. 
The  result  is  that  at  each  stride,  the  angle  which  the  hind 
limbs  describe  round  their  centre  of  motion  is  much  larger 
than  the  angle  described  by  the  fore  limbs.  And  beyond 
this,  as  an  aid  in  equalizing  the  strides,  the  hind  part  of 
the  back  is  at  each  stride  bent  very  much  downwards  and 
forwards.  Hence  the  hind-quarters  appear  to  be  doing 
nearly  all  the  work.  Now  a  moment's  observation  shows  that 
the  bones  and  muscles  composing  the  hind-quarters  of  the 
giraffe,  perform  actions  differing  in  one  or  other  way  and 
degree,  from  the  actions  performed  by  the  homologous 
bones  and  muscles  in  a  mammal  of  ordinary  proportions, 
and  from  those  in  the  ancestral  mammal  which  gave  origin 
to  the  giraffe.  Each  further  stage  of  that  growth  which 
produced  the  large  fore-quarters  and  neck,  entailed  some 
adapted  change  in  sundry  of  the  numerous  parts  composing 
the  hind-quarters ;  since  any  failure  in  the  adjustment  of 
their  respective  strengths  would  entail  some  defect  in  speed 
and  consequent  loss  of  life  when  chased.  It  needs  but  to 
remember  how,  when  continuing  to  walk  with  a  blistered 
foot,  the  taking  of  steps  in  such  a  modified  way  as  to 
diminish  pressure  on  the  sore  point,  soon  produces  aching 


404  THE    FACTORS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

of  muscles  wliicli  are  called  into  unusual  action,  to  see  thafc 
over-straining  of  any  one  of  tlie  muscles  of  the  giraffe's  hind- 
quarters might  quickly  incapacitate  the  animal  when  putting 
out  all  its  powers  to  escape ;  and  to  be  a  few  yards  behind 
others  would  cause  death.  Hence  if  we  are  debarred  from 
assuming  that  co-operative  parts  vary  together  even  when 
adjacent  and  closely  united — if  we  are  still  more  debarred 
from  assuming  that  with  increased  length  of  fore-legs  or 
of  neck,  there  will  go  an  appropriate  change  in  any  one 
muscle  or  bone  in  the  hind-quarters ;  how  entirely  out  of 
the  question  it  is  to  assume  that  there  will  simultaneously 
take  place  the  appropriate  changes  in  all  those  many 
components  of  the  hind-quarters  which  severally  require 
re-adjustment.  It  is  useless  to  reply  that  an  increment  of 
length  in  the  fore-legs  or  neck  might  be  retained  and 
transmitted  to  posterity,  waiting  an  appropriate  variation 
in  a  particular  bone  or  muscle  in  the  hind-quarters,  which, 
being  made,  would  allow  of  a  further  increment.  For 
besides  the  fact  that  until  this  secondary  variation  occurred 
the  primary  variation  would  be  a  disadvantage  often  fatal; 
and  besides  the  fact  that  before  such  an  appropriate 
secondary  variation  might  be  expected  in  the  course  of 
generations  to  occur,  the  primary  variation  would  have 
died  out ;  there  is  the  fact  that  the  appropriate  variation  of 
one  bone  or  muscle  in  the  hind-quarters  would  be  useless 
without  appropriate  variations  of  all  the  rest — some  in 
this  way  and  some  in  that — a  number  of  appropriate 
variations  which  it  is  impossible  to  suppose. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Far  more  numerous  appropriate  varia- 
tions would  be  indirectly  necessitated.  The  immense 
change  in  the  ratio  of  fore-quarters  to  hind-quarters  would 
make  requisite  a  corresponding  change  of  ratio  in  the 
appliances  carrying  on  the  nutrition  of  the  two.  The 
entire  vascular  system,  arterial  and  veinous,  would  have  to 
undergo  successive  unbuildings  and  rebuildings  to  make  its 
channels  everywhere  adequate  to  the  local  requirements; 


THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  405 

since  any  want  of  adjustment  in  tlie  blood-supply  in  tliis 
or  that  set  of  muscles,  would  entail  incapacity,  failure  of 
speed,  and  loss  of  life.  Moreover  tlie  nerves  supplying  the 
various  sets  of  muscles  would  have  to  be  proportionately 
changed ;  as  well  as  the  central  nervous  tracts  from  which 
they  issued.  Can  we  suppose  that  all  these  appropriate 
changes,  too,  would  be  step  by  step  simultaneously  made 
by  fortunate  spontaneous  variations,  occurring  along  with 
all  the  other  fortunate  spontaneous  variations  ?  Consider- 
ing how  immense  must  be  the  number  of  these  required 
changes,  added  to  the  changes  above  enumerated,  the 
chances  against  any  adequate  re-adjustments  fortuitously 
arising  must  be  infinity  to  one. 

If  the  efTects  of  use  and  disuse  of  parts  are  inheritable, 
then  any  change  in  the  fore  parts  of  the  giraffe  which 
affects  the  action  of  the  hind  limbs  and  back,  will  simul- 
taneously cause,  by  the  greater  or  less  exercise  of  it,  a 
re-moulding  of  each  component  in  the  hind  limbs  and 
back  in  a  way  adapted  to  the  new  demands;  and  generation 
after  generation  the  entire  structure  of  the  hind-quarters 
will  be  progressively  fitted  to  the  changed  structure  of  the 
fore-quarters :  all  the  appliances  for  nutrition  and  innerva- 
tion being  at  the  same  time  progressively  fitted  to  both. 
But  in  the  absence  of  this  inheritance  of  functionally- 
produced  modifications,  there  is  no  seeing  how  the  required 
re-adjustments  can  be  made. 

Tet  a  third  class  of  difliculties  stinds  in  the  way  of  the 
belief  that  the  natural  selection  of  useful  variations  is  the 
sole  factor  of  organic  evolution.  This  class  of  difliculties, 
already  pointed  out  in  §  166  of  the  Principles  of  Biology, 
I  cannot  more  clearly  set  forth  than  in  the  words  there 
used.  Hence  I  may  perhaps  be  excused  for  here  quoting 
them. 

'*  Where  the  life  is  comparatively  simple,  or  where  surrounding  circum- 
stances  render  some  one  function  supremely  important,  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  may  readily  bring  about  the  appropriate  structural  change,  without  any 


406  THE    FACTORS    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

aid  from  the  transmisFion  of  functionally-acquired  modifications.  But  In 
proportion  as  the  life  grows  complex — in  proportion  as  a  healthy  existence 
cannot  be  secured  by  a  large  endowment  of  some  one  power,  but  demands 
many  powers ;  in  the  same  proportion  do  there  arise  obstacles  to  the  increase 
of  any  particular  power,  by  "  the  preservation  of  favoured  races  in  the 
struggle  for  life."  As  fast  as  the  faculties  are  multiplied,  so  fast  does  it 
become  possible  for  the  several  members  of  a  species  to  have  various  kinds 
of  superiorities  over  one  another.  While  one  saves  its  life  by  higher  speed, 
another  does  the  like  by  clearer  vision,  another  by  keener  scent,  another  by 
quicker  hearing,  another  by  greater  strength,  another  by  unusual  power  of 
enduring  cold  or  hunger,  another  by  special  sagacity,  another  by  special 
timidity,  another  by  special  courage ;  and  others  by  other  bodily  and  mental 
attributes.  Now  it  is  unquestionably  true  that,  other  things  equal,  each  of 
these  attributes,  giving  its  possessor  an  extra  chance  of  life,  is  likely  to  be 
transmitted  to  posterity.  But  there  seems  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it  will 
be  increased  in  subsequent  generations  by  natural  selection.  That  it  may  be 
thus  increased,  the  individuals  not  possessing  more  than  average  endow- 
ments of  it,  must  be  more  frequently  killed  off  than  individuals  highly 
endowed  with  it ;  and  this  can  happen  only  when  the  attribute  is  one  of 
greater  importance,  for  the  time  being,  than  most  of  the  other  attributes.  If 
those  members  of  the  species  which  have  but  ordinary  shares  of  it,  neverthe- 
less survive  by  virtue  of  other  superiorities  which  they  severally  possess ; 
then  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  this  particular  attribute  can  be  developed  by 
natural  selection  in  subsequent  generations.  The  probability  seems  rather 
to  be,  that  by  gamogenesis,  this  extra  endowment  will,  on  the  average,  be 
diminished  in  posterity — just  serving  in  the  long  run  to  compensate  the 
deficient  endowments  of  other  individuals,  whose  special  powers  lie  in  other 
directions ;  and  so  to  keep  up  the  normal  structure  of  the  species.  The 
working  out  of  the  process  is  here  somewhat  dilUcult  to  follow  ;  but  it  appears 
to  me  that  as  fast  as  the  number  of  bodily  and  mental  faculties  increases, 
and  as  fast  as  the  maintenance  of  life  comes  to  depend  less  on  the  amount 
of  any  one,  and  more  on  the  combined  action  of  all ;  so  fast  does  the  pro- 
duction of  specialities  of  character  by  natural  selection  alone,  become 
ditTicult.  Particularly  does  this  seem  to  be  so  with  a  species  so  multitudinous 
m  its  powers  as  mankind  ;  and  above  all  does  it  seem  to  be  so  with  such  of 
the  human  powers  as  have  but  minor  shares  in  aiding  the  struggle  for  life — 
the  ffisthetic  faculties,  for  example." 

Dwelling  for  a  moment  on  this  last  illustration  of  tlie 
class  of  difficulties  described,  let  us  ask  how  we  are  to 
interpret  the  development  of  the  musical  faculty.  I  will 
not  enlarge  on  the  family  antecedents  of  the  great  com- 
posers. I  will  merely  suggest  the  inquiry  whether  the 
greater  powers  possessed  by  Beethoven  and  Mozart,  by 
Weber  and  Rossini,  than  by  their  fatlicrsj  were  not  due 


THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC   EVOLUTION.  407 

in  larger  measure  to  the  inherited  effects  of  daily  exercise 

of  the  musical  faculty  by  their  fathers,  than  to  inheritance, 

with  increase,  of  spontaneous  variations ;  and  whether  the 

diffused  musical  powers  of  the  Bach  clan,  culminating  in 

those   of  Johann    Sebastian,   did  not  result  in  part  from 

constant   practice ;    but    I   will    raise   the    more    general 

question — How  came    there    that    endowment   of   musical 

faculty  which  characterizes  modern  Europeans  at  large,  as 

compared  with  their  remote  ancestors.     The   monotonous 

chants  of  low  savag'es  cannot  be  said  to  show  any  melodic 

inspiration ;    and   it    is   not    evident    that   an    individual 

savage  who  had  a  little  more  musical  perception  than  the 

rest,  would  derive  any  such  advantage  in  the  maintenance 

of  life  as  would  secure  the  spread  of  his  superiority  by 

inheritance  of   the  variation.    And  then  what  are  we  to 

say  of  harmony  ?  We  cannot  suppose  that  the  appreciation 

of  this,  which  is   relatively   modern,   can  have  arisen  by 

descent    from    the    men    in   whom    successive   variations 

increased  the  appreciation  of  it — the  composers  and  musical 

performers ;  for  on  the  whole,  these  have  been  men  whose 

worldly  prosperity  was  not  such  as  enabled  them  to  rear 

many  children  inheriting  their  special  traits.     Even  if  we 

count  the  illegitimate  ones,  the  survivors  of  these  added  to 

the  survivors  of  the  legitimate  ones,  can  hardly  be  held  to 

have  yielded  more  than  average  numbers  of  descendants ; 

and  those  who  inherited  their  special  traits  have  not  often 

been  thereby  so  aided  in  the  struggle  for  existence  as  to 

further  the  spread  of  such  traits.     Rather  the  tendency 

seems  to  have  been  the  reverse. 

Since  the  above  passage  was  written,  I  have  found  in  the 

second  volume  oi  Animals  and  Plants  under  Domestication, 

a    remark    made    by    Mr.    Darwin,    practically    implying 

that  among  creatures  which  depend  for  their  lives  on  the 

efficiency  of  numerous  powers,  the  increase  of  any  one  by 

the  natural  selection  of  a  variation  is  necessarily  difficult. 

Hero  it  ia.  „^ 
27 


408  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

"  Finally,  as  indefinite  and  almost  illimitable  variability  is  the  usual  resnit 
of  domestication  and  cultivation,  with  the  same  part  or  organ  varying  in 
different  individuals  in  different  or  even  in  directly  opposite  ways;  and  as 
the  same  variation,  if  strongly  pronounced,  usually  recurs  only  after  long 
intervals  of  time,  any  particular  variation  would  generally  be  lost  by 
crossing,  reversion,  and  the  accidental  destruction  of  the  varying  individuals, 
unless  carefully  preserved  by  man." — Vol.  ii,  292. 

Remembering  that  mankind,  subject  as  tliey  are  to  tliia 
domestication  and  cultivation,  are  not,  like  domesticated 
animals,  under  an  agency  wliicb  picks  out  and  preserves 
particular  variations ;  it  results  tbat  there  must  usually  be 
among  them,  under  the  inifluence  of  natural  selection  alone, 
a  continual  disappearance  of  any  useful  variations  of 
particular  faculties  which  may  arise.  Only  in  cases  of 
variations  which  are  specially  preservative,  as  for  example, 
great  cunning  during  a  relatively  barbarous  state,  can  we 
expect  increase  from  natural  selection  alone.  We  cannot 
suppose  that  minor  traits,  exemplified  among  others  by  the 
aesthetic  perceptions,  can  have  been  evolved  by  natural 
selection.  But  if  there  is  inheritance  of  functionally^ 
produced  modifications  of  structure,  evolution  of  such  minor 
traits  is  no  longer  inexplicable. 

Two  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Darwin  have  implications 
from  which  the  same  general  conclusion  must,  I  think,  be 
drawn.  Speaking  of  the  variability  of  animals  and  plants 
under  domestication,  he  says  : — 

"  Changes  of  any  kind  in  the  conditions  of  life,  even  extremely  slight 
changes,  often  suffice  to  cause  variability.  .  .  Animals  and  plants  continue 
to  be  variable  for  an  immense  period  after  their  first  domestication ;  .  .  . 
In  the  course  of  time  they  can  be  habituated  to  certain  changes,  so  as  to 
become  less  variable ;  .  .  .  There  is  good  evidence  that  the  power  of 
changed  conditions  accumulates ;  so  that  two,  three,  or  more  generations 
must  be  exposed  to  new  conditions  before  any  effect  is  visible.  .  .  . 
Some  variations  are  induced  by  the  direct  action  of  the  surrounding 
conditions  on  the  whole  organization,  or  on  certain  parts  alone,  and  other 
variations  are  induced  indirectly  through  the  reproductive  system  being 
affected  in  the  same  manner  as  is  so  common  with  organic  beings  when 
removed  from  their  natural  conditions.  — (Aiiiinals  and  I'lants  wider 
Votnestication,  vol.  ii,  270.) 


THE  FACTORS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION.        409 

There  are  to  be  recognized  two  modes  of  this  effect 
produced  hj  changed  conditions  on  the  reproductive  system, 
and  consequently  on  offspring.  Simple  arrest  of  develop- 
ment is  one.  But  beyond  the  variations  of  offspring  arising 
from  imperfectly  developed  reproductive  systems  in  parents 
— variations  which  must  be  ordinarily  in  the  nature  of 
imperfections — there  are  others  due  to  a  changed  balance 
of  functions  caused  by  changed  conditions.  The  fact  noted 
by  Mr.  Darwin  in  the  above  passage,  "  that  the  power  of 
changed  conditions  accumulates;  so  that  two,  three,  or 
more  generations  must  be  exposed  to  new  conditions  before 
any  effect  is  visible,"  implies  that  during  these  generations 
there  is  going  on  some  change  of  constitution  consequent 
on  the  changed  proportions  and  relations  of  the  functions. 
I  will  not  dwell  on  the  implication,  which  seems  tolerably 
clear,  that  this  change  must  consist  of  such  modifications 
of  organs  as  adapt  them  to  their  changed  functions ;  and 
that  if  the  influence  of  changed  conditions  "  accumulates,'* 
it  must  be  through  the  inheritance  of  such  modifications. 
Nor  will  I  press  the  question — What  is  the  nature  of  the 
effect  registered  in  the  reproductive  elements,  and  which 
is  subsequently  manifested  by  variations  ? — Is  it  an  effect 
entirely  irrelevant  to  the  new  requirements  of  the  variety  ? 
■ — Or  is  it  an  effect  which  makes  the  variety  less  fit  for  the 
new  requirements  ? — Or  is  it  an  effect  which  makes  it  more 
fit  for  the  new  requirements?  But  not  pressing  these 
questions,  it  suffices  to  point  out  the  necessary  implication 
that  changed  functions  of  organs  do,  in  some  way  or  other,  u^ 
register  themselves  in  changed  proclivities  of  the  repro- 
ductive elements.  In  face  of  these  facts  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  modified  action  of  a  part  produces  an  inheritable 
effect — be  the  nature  of  that  effect  what  it  may. 

The  second  of  the  remarks  above  adverted  to  as  made 
by  Mr.  Darwin,  is  contained  in  his  sections  dealing  with 
correlated  variations  In  the  Origin  of  Spexies,  p.  114, 
he  says — • 


410  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

"  The  whole  organization  is  so  tied  together  during  its  growth  and  develop- 
ment, that  when  slight  variations  in  any  one  part  occur,  and  are  accumu- 
lated  through  natural  selection,  other  parts  become  modified." 
And  a  parallel  statement  contained  in  Animals  and  Plants 
under  Domestication,  vol.  ii,  p.  320,  runs  thus — 

"  Correlated  variation  is  an  important  subject  for  us ;  for  when  one  part 
is  modified  through  continued  selection,  either  by  man  or  under  nature, 
other  parts  of  the  organization  will  be  unavoidably  modified.  From  this 
correlation  it  apparently  follows  that,  with  our  domesticated  animals  and 
plants,  varieties  rarely  or  never  difier  from  each  other  by  some  single 
character  alone." 

By  what  process  does  a  changed  part  modify  other 
parts  ?  By  modifying  their  functions  in  some  way  or 
degree,  seems  the  necessary  answer.  It  is  indeed,  imagin- 
able, that  where  the  part  changed  is  some  dermal  appen- 
dage which,  becoming  larger,  has  abstracted  more  of  the 
needful  material  from  the  general  stock,  the  effect  may 
consist  simply  in  diminishing  the  amount  of  this  material 
available  for  other  dermal  appendages,  leading  to  diminu- 
tion of  some  or  all  of  them,  and  may  fail  to  affect  in 
appreciable  ways  the  rest  of  the  organism :  save  perhaps 
the  blood-vessels  near  the  enlarged  appendage.  But  where 
the  part  is  an  active  one — a  limb,  or  viscus,  or  any  organ 
which  constantly  demands  blood,  produces  waste  matter, 
secretes,  or  absorbs — then  all  the  other  active  organs 
become  implicated  in  the  change.  The  functions  per- 
formed by  them  have  to  constitute  a  moving  equilibrium ; 
and  the  function  of  one  cannot,  by  alteration  of  the  struc- 
ture performing  it,  be  modified  in  degree  or  kind,  without 
modifying  the  functions  of  the  rest — some  appreciably  and 
others  inappreciably,  according  to  the  directness  or  indi- 
rectness of  their  relations.  Of  such  inter-dependent  changes, 
the  normal  ones  are  naturally  inconspicuous;  but  those 
which  are  partially  or  completely  abnormal,  sufficiently 
carry  home  the  general  truth.  Thus,  unusual  cerebral 
excitement  affects  the  excretion  through  the  kidneys  in 
quantity  or  quality  or  both.  Strong  emotions  of  disagree- 
able kinds  check  or  arrest  the  flow  of  bile.    A  considerabla 


THE    FACTORS    OP   OEGANIC    EVOLUTION.  411 

oT)stacle  to  the  circulation  offered  by  some  important 
structure  in  a  diseased  or  disordered  state,  throwing  more 
strain  upon  the  heart,  causes  hypertrophy  of  its  muscular 
■^'alls;  and  this  change  which  is,  so  far  as  concerns  the 
primary  evil,  a  remedial  one,  often  entails  mischiefs  in 
other  organs.  "Apoplexy  and  palsy,  in  a  scarcely  credible 
number  of  cases,  are  directly  dependent  on  hyperti-opic 
enlargement  of  the  heart/'  And  in  other  cases,  asthma, 
dropsy,  and  epilepsy  are  caused.  Now  if  a  result  of  this 
inter-dependence  as  seen  in  the  individual  organism,  is  that 
a  local  modification  of  one  part  produces,  by  changing  their 
functions,  correlative  modifications  of  other  parts,  then  the 
question  here  to  be  put  is — Are  these  correlative  modifica- 
tions, when  of  a  kind  falling  within  normal  limits,  inheritable 
or  not.  If  they  are  inheritable,  then  the  fact  stated  by  Mr. 
Darwin  that  "  when  one  part  is  modified  through  continued 
selection,"  "other  parts  of  the  organization  will  be  una- 
voidably modified"  is  perfectly  intelligible:  these  entailed 
secondary  modifications  are  transmitted  jmri  jpassu  with  the 
successive  modifications  produced  by  selection.  But  what  if 
they  are  not  inheritable  ?  Then  these  secondary  modifications  ^ 
caused  in  the  individual,  not  being  transmitted  to  descend- 
ants, the  descendants  must  commence  life  Avith  organiza- 
tions out  of  balance,  and  with  each  increment  of  change 
in  the  part  affected  by  selection,  their  organizations  must 
get  more  out  of  balance — must  have  a  larger  and  larger 
amounts  of  re-organization  to  be  made  during  their  lives. 
Hence  the  constitution  of  the  variety  must  become  more 
and  more  unworkable. 

The  only  imaginable  alternative  is  that  the  re-adjust- 
ments are  effected  in  course  of  time  by  natural  selection. 
But,  in  the  first  place,  as  we  find  no  proof  of  concomitant 
variation  among  directly  co-operative  parts  which  are 
closely  united,  there  cannot  be  assumed  any  concomitant 
variation  among  parts  which  are  both  indirectly  co-opera- 
tive and  far  from  one  another.     And,  in  the  second  place. 


h 


412  THE    FACTORS    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

before  all  the  many  required  re-adjustments  could  be  made, 
the  variety  would  die  out  from  defective  constitution. 
Even  were  there  no  such  difficulty,  we  should  still  have  to 
entertain  a  strange  group  of  propositions,  which  would 
stand  as  follows : — 1.  Change  in  one  part  entails,  by 
reaction  on  the  organism,  changes,  in  other  parts,  the  func- 
tions of  which  are  necessarily  changed.  2.  Such  changes 
worked  in  the  individual,  affect,  in  some  way,  the  repro- 
ductive elements  :  these  being  found  to  evolve  unusual 
structures  when  the  constitutional  balance  has  been  con- 
tinuously disturbed.  C.  But  the  changes  in  the  reproduc- 
tive elements  thus  caused,  are  not  such  as  represent  these 
functionally-produced  changes  :  the  modifications  conveyed 
to  offspring  are  irrelevant  to  these  various  modifications 
functionally  produced  in  the  organs  of  the  parents.  4. 
Nevertheless,  while  the  balance  of  functions  cannot  be  re- 
established through  inheritance  of  the  effects  of  disturbed 
functions  on  structures,  wrought  throughout  the  individual 
organism;  it  can  be  re-established  by  the  inheritance 
of  fortuitous  variations  which  occur  in  all  the  affected 
organs  without  reference  to  these  changes  of  function. 

Now  without  saying  that  acceptance  of  this  group  of 
propositions  is  impossible,  we  may  certainly  say  that  it  is 
not  easy. 

"  But  where  are  the  direct  proofs  that  inheritance  of 
functionally-produced  modifications  takes  place  ?"  is  a 
question  which  will  be  put  by  those  who  have  committed 
themselves  to  the  current  exclusive  interpretation.  "  Grant 
that  there  are  difficulties ;  still,  before  the  transmitted 
effects  of  use  and  disuse  can  be  legitimately  assigned  in 
explanation  of  them,  we  must  have  good  evidence  that  the 
effects  of  use  and  disuse  are  transmitted." 

Before  dealing  directly  with  this  demurrer,  let  me  deal 
with  it  indirectly,  by  pointing  out  that  the  lack  of  recog- 
nized evidence  may  be   accounted  for  without  assuming 


THE    FACTORS   OF   ORGANIC   EVOLUTION.  413 

tliat  tliere  is  not  plenty  of  it.  Inattention  and  reluctant 
attention  lead  to  the  ignoring  of  facts  which  really  exist  in 
abundance  ;  as  is  well  illustrated  in  the  case  of  pre-historie 
implements.  Biassed  by  the  current  belief  that  no  traces 
of  man  were  to  be  found  on  the  Earth's  surface,  save  in 
certain  superficial  formations  of  very  recent  date,  geologists 
and  anthropologists  not  only  neglected  to  seek  such  traces, 
but  for  a  long  time  continued  to  pooh-pooh  those  who  said 
they  had  found  them.  When  M.  Boucher  de  Perthes  at 
length  succeeded  in  drawing  the  eyes  of  scientific  men  to 
the  flint  implements  discovered  by  him  in  the  quarternary 
deposits  of  the  Somme  valley;  and  when  geologists  and 
anthropologists  had  thus  been  convinced  that  evidences 
of  human  existence  were  to  be  found  in  formations  of 
considerable  age,  and  thereafter  began  to  search  for  them ; 
they  found  plenty  of  them  all  over  the  world.  Or  again, 
to  take  an  instance  closely  germane  to  the  matter,  we  may 
recall  the  fact  that  the  contemptuous  attitude  towards 
the  hypothesis  of  organic  evolution  which  naturalists  in 
general  maintained  before  the  publication  of  Mr.  Darwin's 
work,  prevented  them  from  seeing  the  multitudinous  facts 
by  which  it  is  supported.  Similarly,  it  is  very  possible 
that  their  alienation  from  the  belief  that  there  is  a  trans- 
mission of  those  changes  of  structure  which  are  produced 
by  changes  of  action,  makes  naturalists  slight  the  evidence 
which  supports  that  belief  and  refuse  to  occupy  themselves 
in  seeking  further  evidence. 

If  it  be  asked  how  it  happens  that  there  have  been 
recorded  multitudinous  instances  of  variations  fortuitously 
arising  and  re-appearing  in  offspring,  while  there  have  not 
been  recorded  instances  of  the  transmission  of  changes 
functionally  produced,  there  are  three  replies.  The  first 
is  that  changes  of  the  one  class  are  many  of  them  con- 
spicuous, while  those  of  the  other  class  are  nearly  all 
inconspicuous.  If  a  child  is  born  with  six  fingers,  the 
anomaly  is  not  simply  obvious  but  so  startling  as  to  attract 


414  THE    FACTORS    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

much  notice  ;  and  if  tliis  child,  growing  up,  has  six- 
lingered  desceiidents,  everybody  in  the  locaUty  hears  of 
it.  A  pigeon  with  specially-coloured  feathers,  or  one 
distinguished  by  a  broadened  and  upraised  tail,  or  by  a 
protuberance  of  the  neck,  draws  attention  by  its  oddness ; 
and  if  in  its  young  the  trait  is  repeated,  occasionally  with 
increase,  the  fact  is  remarked,  and  there  follows  the  thought 
of  establishing  the  peculiarity  by  selection.  A  lamb  dis- 
abled from  leaping  by  the  shortness  of  its  legs,  could  not 
fail  to  be  observed;  and  the  fact  that  its  offspring  were 
similarly  short-legged,  and  had  a  consequent  inability  to 
get  over  fences,  would  inevitably  become  widely  known. 
Similarly  with  plants.  That  this  flower  had  an  extra 
number  of  petals,  that  that  was  unusually  symmetrical, 
and  that  another  differed  considerably  in  colour  from  the 
average  of  its  kind,  would  be  easily  seen  by  an  observant 
gardener;  and  the  suspicion  that  such  anomalies  are 
inheritable  having  arisen,  experiments  leading  to  further 
proofs  that  they  are  so,  would  frequently  be  made.  But  it 
is  not  thus  with  functionally-produced  modifications.  The 
seats  of  these  are  in  nearly  all  cases  the  muscular,  osseous, 
and  nervous  systems,  and  the  viscera — parts  which  are 
either  entirely  hidden  or  greatly  obscured.  Modification 
in  a  nervous  centre  is  inaccessible  to  vision ;  bones  may  bo 
considerably  altered  in  size  or  shape  without  attentiop 
being  drawn  to  them;  and,  covered  with  thick  coats  a& 
are  most  of  the  animals  open  to  continuous  observation,  tho 
increases  or  decreases  in  muscles  must  be  great  before  they 
become  externally  perceptible. 

A  further  important  difference  between  the  two  inquiries 
is  that  to  ascertain  whether  a  fortuitous  variation  is 
inheritable,  needs  merely  a  little  attention  to  the  selection 
of  individuals  and  the  observation  of  offspring;  while  to 
ascertain  whether  there  is  inheritance  of  a  functionally- 
produced  modification,  it  is  requisite  to  make  arrangements 
which  demand  the  greater  or  smaller  exercise  of  some  part 


THE  FACTORS  OP  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION.        415 

or  parts ;  and  it  is  difficult  in  many  cases  to  find  such 
arrangements,  troublesome  to  maintain  them  even  for  one 
generation,  and  still  more  through  successive  generations. 

Nor  is  this  all.  There  exist  stimuli  to  inquiry  in  the  one 
case  which  do  not  exist  in  the  other.  The  money-interest 
and  the  interest  of  the  fancier,  acting  now  separately  and 
now  together,  have  prompted  multitudinous  individiials  to 
make  experiments  which  have  brought  out  clear  evidence 
that  fortuitous  variations  are  inherited.  The  cattle-breeders 
who  profit  by  producing  certain  shapes  and  qualities ;  the 
keepers  of  pet  animals  who  take  pride  in  the  perfections 
of  those  they  have  bred;  the  florists,  professional  and 
amateur,  who  obtain  new  varieties  and  take  prizes ;  form  a 
body  of  men  who  furnish  naturalists  with  countless  of  the 
required  proofs.  But  there  is  no  such  body  of  men,  led 
either  by  pecuniary  interest  or  the  interest  of  a  hobby,  to 
ascertain  by  experiments  whether  the  effects  of  use  and 
disuse  are  inheritable. 

Thus,  then,  there  are  amply  sufficient  reasons  why  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  direct  evidence  in  the  one  case  and  but 
little  in  the  other :  such  little  being  that  which  comes  out 
incidentally.     Let  us  look  at  vv^hat  there  is  of  it. 

Considerable  weight  attaches  to  a  fact  which  Brown- 
Sequard  discovered,  quite  by  accident,  in  the  course  of 
his  researches.  He  found  that  certain  artificially-produced 
lesions  of  the  nervous  system,  so  small  even  as  a  section  of 
the  sciatic  nerve,  left,  after  healing,  an  increasing  excit- 
ability which  ended  in  liability  to  epilepsy;  and  there 
afterwards  came  out  the  unlooked-for  result  that  the 
offspring  of  guinea-pigs  which  had  thus  acquired  au 
epileptic  habit  such  that  a  pinch  on  the  neck  would  produce 
a  fit,  inherited  an  epileptic  habit  of  like  kind.  It  has, 
indeed,  been  since  alleged  that  guinea  pigs  tend  to  epilepsy, 
and  that  phenomena  of  the  kind  described,  occur  where 
there   have   been   no   antecedents   like   those    in    Brown* 


416^  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

Sequard's  case.  But  considering  the  improbability  tbat 
tlie  phenomena  observed  by  him  happened  to  be  nothing 
more  than  phenomena  which  occasionally  arise  naturally, 
we  may,  until  there  is  good  proof  to  the  contrary,  assign 
some  value  to  his  results. 

Evidence  not  of  this  directly  experimental  kind,  but  ; 
nevertheless  of  considerable  weight,  is  furnished  by  other 
nervous  disorders.  There  is  proof  enough  that  insanity 
admits  of  being  induced  by  circumstances  which,  in  one  or 
other  way,  derange  the  nervous  functions — excesses  of  this 
or  that  kind;  and  no  one  questions  the  accepted  belief 
that  insanity  is  inheritable.  Is  it  alleged  that  the  insanity 
which  is  inheritable  is  that  which  spontaneously  arises,  and 
that  the  insanity  which  follows  some  chronic  perversion  of 
functions  is  not  inheritable  ?  This  does  not  seem  a  very 
reasonable  allegation;  and  until  some  warrant  for  it  is 
forthcoming,  we  may  fairly  assume  that  there  is  here  a 
further  support  for  belief  in  the  transmission  of  functionally- 
produced  changes. 

Moreover,  I  find  among  physicians  the  belief  that 
nervous  disorders  of  a  less  severe  kind  are  inheritable. 
Men  who  have  prostrated  their  nervous  systems  by  prolonged 
overwork  or  in  some  other  way,  have  children  more  or  less 
prone  to  nervousness.  It  matters  not  what  may  be  the 
form  of  inheritance — whether  it  be  of  a  brain  in  some  way 
imperfect,  or  of  a  deficient  blood-supply ;  it  is  in  any  caso 
the  inheritance  of  functionally-modified  structures. 

Verification  of  the  reasons  above  given  for  the  paucity 
of  this  direct  evidence,  is  yielded  by  contemplation  of  it ; 
for  it  is  observable  that  the  cases  named  are  cases  which, 
from  one  or  other  cause,  have  thrust  themselves  on 
observation.  They  justify  the  suspicion  that  it  is  not 
because  such  cases  are  rare  that  many  of  them  cannot  be 
cited;  bat  siinply  because  they  are  mostly  unobtrusive,  and 
to  be  found  only  by  that  deliberate  search  which  nobody 
makes.    I  say  noujilj',  but  I  am  wrong.    Successful  search 


tHE    FACTORS    OF   ORGANIC   EVOLUTION.  417 

}»as  been  made  by  one  whose  competence  as  an  observer  is 
beyond  question,  and  whose  testimony  is  less  liable  than 
that  of  all  others  to  any  bias  towards  the  conclusion  that 
Buch  inheritance  takes  place.  I  refer  to  the  author  of 
the  Origin  of  Sjpecies. 

Now-a-days  most  naturalists  are  more  Darwinian  than 
Mr.  Darwin  himself.  I  do  not  mean  that  their  beliefs  in 
organic  evolution  are  more  decided ;  though  I  shall  be 
supposed  to  mean  this  by  the  mass  of  readers,  who  identify 
Mr.  Darwin's  great  contribution  to  the  theory  of  organic 
evolution,  with  the  theory  of  organic  evolution  itself,  and 
even  with  the  theory  of  evolution  at  large.  But  I  mean 
that  the  particular  factor  which  he  first  recognized  as 
having  played  so  immense  a  part  in  organic  evolution,  has 
come  to  be  regarded  by  his  followers  as  the  sole  factor, 
though  it  was  not  so  regarded  by  him.  It  is  true  that  he 
apparently  rejected  altogether  the  causal  agencies  alleged 
by  earlier  inquirers.  In  the  Historical  Sketch  prefixed  to 
the  later  editions  of  his  Origin  of  Species  (p.  xiv,  note), 
he  writes  : — "  It  is  curious  how  largely  my  grandfather. 
Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin,  anticipated  the  views  and  erroneous 
grounds  of  opinion  of  Lamarck  in  his  '  Zoonomia '  (vol.  i, 
pp.  500-510),  published  in  1794."  And  since,  among  the 
views  thus  referred  to,  was  the  view  that  changes  of 
Btructure  in  organisms  arise  by  the  inheritance  of  function- 
ally-produced changes,  Mr.  Darwin  seems,  by  the  above 
sentence,  to  have  implied  his  disbelief  in  such  inheritance. 
But  he  did  not  mean  to  imply  this ;  for  his  belief  in  it  as 
a  cause  of  evolution,  if  not  an  important  cause,  is  proved 
by  many  passages  in  his  works.  In  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Origin  of  SperAea  (p.  8  of  the  sixth  edition),  he  says 
respecting  the  inherited  effects  of  habit,  that  "  with 
animals  the  increased  use  or  disuse  of  parts  has  had  a  more 
marked  influence ;''  and  he  gives  as  instances  the  changed 
relative  weights  of  the  wing  bones  and  leg  bones  of  th© 


418  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

•wild  duck  and  tlie  domestic  duck,  "  the  great  and  inher- 
ited development  of  the  udders  in  cows  and  goats/'  and 
the  drooping  ears  of  various  domestic  animals.  Here  are 
other  passages  taken  from  the  latest  edition  of  the  work. 

"  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  use  in  our  domestic  animals  haa 
strengthened  and  enlarged  certain  parts,  and  disuse  diminished  them  ;  and 
that  such  modifications  are  inherited  "  (p.  108j.  [And  on  the  following 
pages  he  gives  five  further  examples  of  such  effects.]  "  Habit  in  producing 
constitutional  peculiarities  and  use  in  strengthening  and  disuse  in  weaken- 
ing and  diminishing  organs,  appear  in  many  cases  to  have  been  potent  in 
their  effects"  (p.  131).  "  When  discussing  special  cases,  Mr.  Mivart  passes 
over  the  effects  of  the  increased  use  and  disuse  of  parts,  which  1  nave 
always  maintained  to  be  highly  important,  and  have  treated  in  my  '  Varia- 
tion under  Domestication  '  at  greater  length  than,  as  I  believe,  any  other 
writer"  (p.  176 1.  "Disuse,  on  the  other  hand,  will  account  for  the  less 
developed  condition  of  the  whole  inferior  half  of  the  body,  including  the 
lateral  lins  "  (p.  188).  "  1  may  give  another  instance  of  a  structure  which 
apparently  owes  its  origin  exclusively  to  use  or  habit "  (p.  188).  "  It 
appears  piobable  that  disuse  has  been  the  main  agent  in  rendering  organs 
rudimentary  "  (pp.  400 — 401).  "  On  the  whole,  we  may  conclude  that  habit, 
or  use  and  disuse,  have,  in  some  cases,  played  a  considerable  part  in  the 
modification  of  the  constitution  and  structure ;  but  that  the  effects  have 
often  been  largely  combined  with,  and  sometimes  overmastered  by,  the 
natural  selection  of  innate  variations  "  (p.  114). 

In  his  subsequent  work,  TJie  Variation  of  Animals  and 
Plants  tender  Domestication,  where  he  goes  into  full  detail, 
Mr.  Darwin  gives  more  numerous  illustrations  of  the 
inherited  effects  of  use  and  disuse.  The  following  ai-e  some 
of  the  cases,  quoted  from  volume  i  of  the  first  edition. 

Treating  of  domesticated  rabbits,  he  says : — "  the  want  of  exercise  has 
apparently  modified  the  proportional  length  of  the  limbs  in  comparison  with 
the  body  "  (p.  116).  "  We  thus  see  that  the  most  important  and  complicated 
organ  [the  brain]  in  the  whole  organization  is  subject  to  the  law  of  decrease 
in  size  from  disuse  "  (p.  129).  He  remarks  that  in  birds  of  the  oceanic 
islands  "  not  persecuted  by  any  enemies,  the  reduction  of  their  wings  has 
probably  been  caused  by  gradual  disuse."  After  comparing  one  of  these,  the 
water-hen  of  Tristan  d'Acunha,  with  the  European  water-hen,  and  showing 
that  all  the  bones  concerned  in  flight  are  smaller,  he  adds — "  Hence  in  the 
skeleton  of  this  natural  species  nearly  the  same  changes  have  occurred,  only 
carried  a  Uttle  further,  as  with  our  domestic  ducks,  and  in  this  latter  case  I 
presume  no  one  will  dispute  that  they  have  resulted  from  the  lessened  use  of 
the  wings  and  the  increased  use  of  the  legs  "  (pp.  286-7).  "  As  with  other 
long-domesticated  animals,  the  instincts  of  the  bilk-moth  have  suSered.    Tht 


THE    FACTORS    OF   ORaANIC    EVOLUTION.  419 

eaterpillars,  when  placed  on  a  mulberry-tree,  often  commit  the  strange  mis- 
take of  devouring  the  base  of  the  leaf  on  which  they  are  feeding,  and 
consequently  fall  down  ;  but  they  are  capable,  according  to  M.  Kobinet,  of 
again  crawling  up  the  trunk.  Even  this  capacity  sometimes  fails,  for 
M.  Martins  placed  some  caterpillars  on  a  tree,  and  those  which  fell  were 
not  able  to  remount  and  perished  of  hunger ;  they  were  even  incapable  of 
passing  from  leaf  to  leaf "  (p.  304). 

Hei'e  are  some  instances  of  like  meaning  from  volume  ii. 

*'  In  many  cases  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  lessened  use  of  various 
organs  has  affected  the  corresponding  parts  in  the  offspring.  But  there  is  no 
good  evidence  that  this  ever  follows  in  the  course  of  a  single  generation.  .  . 
Our  domestic  fowls,  ducks,  and  geese  have  almost  lost,  not  only  in  the 
individual  but  in  the  race,  their  power  of  flight ;  for  we  do  not  see  a  chicken, 
when  frightened,  take  flight  like  a  young  phsasant.  .  .  .  With  domestic 
pigeons,  the  lenf;th  of  the  sternum,  the  prominence  of  its  crest,  the  length  of 
the  scapuliB  and  furcula,  the  length  of  the  wings  as  measured  from  tip  to  tip 
of  the  radius,  are  all  reduced  relatively  to  the  same  parts  in  the  wild  pigeon." 
[After  detailing  kindred  diminutions  in  fowls  and  ducks,  Mr.  Darwin  adds] 
"  The  decreased  weight  and  size  of  the  bones,  in  the  foregoing  cases,  is 
probably  the  indirect  result  of  the  reaction  of  the  weakened  muscles  on  the 
bones"  (pp.  297-8).  "  Nathusius  has  shown  that,  with  the  improved  races 
of  the  pig,  the  shortened  legs  and  snout,  the  form  of  the  articular  condyles  of 
the  occiput,  and  the  position  of  the  jaws  with  the  upper  canine  teeth  pro- 
jecting in  a  most  anomalous  manner  in  front  of  the  lower  canines,  may  be 
attributed  to  these  parts  not  having  been  fully  exercised.  .  .  .  These  modi- 
fications of  structure,  which  are  all  strictly  inherited,  characterise  several 
improved  breeds,  so  that  they  cannot  have  been  derived  from  any  single 
domestic  or  wild  stock.  With  respect  to  cattle.  Professor  Tanner  has 
remarked  that  the  lungs  and  liver  in  the  improved  breeds  '  are  found  to  be 
considerably  reduced  in  size  when  compared  with  those  possessed  by  animals 
having  perfect  liberty ;'  .  .  .  The  cause  of  the  reduced  lungs  in  highly-bred 
animals  which  take  little  exercise  is  obvious"  (pp.  299-300).  [And  on  pp. 
301,  302  and  303,  he  gives  facts  showing  the  effects  of  use  and  disuse  in 
changing,  among  domestic  animals,  the  characters  of  the  ears,  the  leugtba 
of  the  intestines,  and,  in  various  ways,  the  natures  of  the  instincts.] 

But  Mr.  Darwin's  admission,  or  rather  liis  assertion, 
fcliat  the  inheritance  of  functionally-produced  modifications 
has  been  a  factor  in  organic  evolution,  is  made  clear  not 
by  these  passages  alone  and  by  kindred  ones.  It  is  made 
clearer  still  by  a  passage  in  the  preface  to  the  second  edition 
of  his  Descent  of  Man.  He  there  protests  against  that 
current  version  of  his  views  in  Avhich  this  factor  makes  no 
appearance.     The  passage  is  as  follows. 


420  THE    FACTOKS    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

"  I  may  take  this  opportunity  of  remarking  that  my  critics  frequently 
assume  that  I  attribute  all  changes  of  corporeal  structure  and  mental  power 
exclusively  to  the  natural  selection  of  such  variations  as  are  often  called 
spontaneous ;  whereas,  even  in  the  first  edition  of  the  '  Origin  of  Species,'  I 
distinctly  stated  that  great  weight  must  be  attributed  to  the  inherited  effects 
of  use  and  disuse,  with  respect  both  to  the  body  and  mind." 

Nor   is  this    all.      There   is   evidence  that   Mr.  Darwin's 

belief  in  the  efficiency  of  this  factor,  became  stronger  as  he 

grew  older  and  accumulated  more  evidence.     The  first  of 

the  extracts  above  given,  taken  from,  the  sixth  edition  of  the 

Origin  of  Species,  runs  thus  : — 

"  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  use  in  our  domestic  animals  has 
strengthened  and  enlarged  certain  parts,  and  disuse  diminished  them ;  and 
that  such  modifications  are  inherited." 

Now  on  turning  to  the  first  edition,  p.  134,  it  will  be 
found  that  instead  of  the  words — "  I  think  there  can  be  no 
doubt,"  the  words  originally  used  were — "  I  think  there 
can  be  little  doubt."  That  this  deliberate  erasure  of 
a  qualifying  word  and  substitution  of  a  word  implying 
unqualified  belief,  was  due  to  a  more  decided  recognition  of 
a  factor  originally  under-estimated,  is  clearly  implied  by  the 
wording  of  the  above-quoted  passage  from  the  preface  to 
the  Descent  of  Man ;  where  he  says  that  "  even  in  the  first 
edition  of  the  '  Origin  of  Species,'  "  &c. :  the  implication 
being  that  much  more  in  subsequent  editions,  and  subsequent 
works,  had  he  insisted  on  this  factor.  The  change  thus 
indicated  is  especially  significant  as  having  occurred  at 
a  time  of  life  when  the  natural  tendency  is  towards  fixity 
of  opinion. 

During  that  earlier  period  when  he  was  discovering  the 
multitudinous  cases  in  which  his  own  hypothesis  afforded 
solutions,  and  simultaneously  observing  how  utterly  futile 
in  these  multitudinous  cases  was  the  hypothesis  pro- 
pounded by  his  grandfather  and  Lamarck,  Mr.  Darwin 
was,  not  unnaturally,  almost  betrayed  into  the  belief  that 
the  one  is  all-sufficient  and  the  other  inoperative.  But 
in  the  mind  of  one  so  candid  and  ever  open  to  more 
evidence,  there  naturally  came  a  reaction.    The  inheritance 


THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  421 

of  functionally-produced  modifications^  whicli,  judging  by 
the  passage  quoted  above  concerning  the  views  of  these 
earlier  enquirers,  would  seem  to  have  been  at  one  time 
denied,  but  which  as  we  have  seen  was  always  to  some 
extent  recognized,  came  to  be  recognized  more  and  more, 
and  deliberately  included  as  a  factor  of  importance. 

Of  this  reaction  displayed  in  the  later  writings  of  Mr. 
Darwin,  let  us  now  ask — Has  it  not  to  be  carried  further  ? 
Was  the  share  in  organic  evolution  which  Mr.  Darwin 
latterly  assigned  to  the  transmission  of  modifications  caused 
by  use  and  disuse,  its  due  share  ?  Consideration  of  the 
groups  of  evidences  given  above,  will,  I  think,  lead  us 
to  believe  that  its  share  has  been  much  larger  than  he 
supposed  even  in  his  later  days. 

There  is  first  the  implication  yielded  by  extensive 
classes  of  phenomena  which  remain  inexplicable  in  the 
absence  of  this  factor.  If,  as  we  see,  co-operative  parts  do 
not  vary  together,  even  when  few  and  close  together,  and 
may  not  therefore  be  assumed  to  do  so  when  many  and 
remote,  we  cannot  account  for  those  innumerable  changes 
in  organization  which  are  implied  when,  for  advantageous 
use  of  some  modified  part,  many  other  parts  which  join  it 
in  action  have  to  be  modified. 

Further,  as  increasing  complexity  of  structure,  accom- 
panying increasing  complexity  of  life,  implies  increasing 
number  of  faculties,  of  which  each  one  conduces  to  preserva- 
tion of  self  or  descendants  ;  and  as  the  various  individuals 
of  a  species,  severally  requiring  something  like  the  normal 
araoTints  of  all  these,  may  individually  profit,  here  by  an 
unusual  amount  of  one,  and  there  by  an  unusual  amount  of 
another ;  it  follows  that  as  the  number  of  faculties  becomes 
greater,  it  becomes  more  difiicult  for  any  one  to  be  further 
developed  by  natural  selection.  Only  where  increase  of 
some  one  is  predominantly  advantageous  does  the  means 
seem   adequate   to   the   end.      Especially   in    the   case   of 


422         THE  FACTORS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION. 

powers  wliicli  do  not  subserve  self-preservation  in  appreci- 
able degrees,  does  development  by  natural  selection  appear 
impracticable. 

It  is  a  fact  recognized  by  Mr.  Darwin,  that  wbere,  by 
selection  through  successive  generations,  a  part  has  been 
increased  or  decreased,  its  reaction  upon  other  parts 
entails  changes  in  them.  This  reaction  is  effected  through 
the  changes  of  function  involved.  If  the  changes  of 
structure  produced  by  such  changes  of  function,  are 
inheritable,  then  the  re-adjustment  of  parts  throughout  the 
organism,  taking  place  generation  after  generation,  main- 
tains an  approximate  balance ;  but  if  not,  then  generation 
after  generation  the  organism  must  get  more  and  more  out 
of  gear,  and  tend  to  become  unworkable. 

Further,  as  it  is  proved  that  change  in  the  balance  of 
functions  registers  its  effects  on  the  reproductive  elements, 
we  have  to  choose  between  the  alternatives  that  the  regis- 
tered effects  are  irrelevant  to  the  particular  modifications 
which  the  organism  has  undergone,  or  that  they  are  such 
as  tend  to  produce  repetitions  of  these  modifications.  The 
last  of  these  alternatives  makes  the  facts  comprehensible  ; 
but  the  first  of  them  not  only  leaves  us  with  several 
unsolved  problems,  but  is  incongruous  with  the  general 
truth  that  by  reproduction,  ancestral  traits,  down  to  minute 
details,  are  transmitted. 

Though,  in  the  absence  of  pecuniary  interests  and  the 
interests  in  hobbies,  no  such  special  experiments  as  those 
which  have  established  the  inheritance  of  fortuitous  varia- 
tions have  been  made  to  ascertain  whether  functionally- 
produced  modifications  are  inherited ;  yet  certain  apparent 
instances  of  such  inheritance  have  forced  themselves  on 
observation  without  being  sought  for.  In  addition  to 
ether  indications  of  a  less  conspicuous  kind,  is  the  one  I 
have  given  above — the  fact  that  the  apparatus  for  tearing 
and  mastication  has  decreased  with  decrease  of  its  function, 
alike  in  civilized  man  and  in  some  varieties  of  dogs  which 


THE    FACTORS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  423 

lead  protected  and  pampered  lives.  Of  the  numerous  cases 
named  by  Mr.  Darwin,  it  is  observable  that  they  are 
yielded  not  by  one  class  of  parts  only,  but  by  most  if  not 
all  classes — by  the  dermal  system,  the  muscular  system,  the 
osseous  system,  the  nervous  system,  the  viscera ;  and  that 
among  parts  liable  to  be  functionally  modified,  the  most 
numerous  observed  cases  of  inheritance  are  furnished  by 
those  which  admit  of  preservation  and  easy  comparison — 
the  bones  :  these  cases,  moreover,  being  specially  signifi- 
cant as  showing  how,  in  sundry  unallied  species,  parallel 
changes  of  structure  have  occurred  along  with  parallel 
changes  of  habit. 

What,  then,  shall  we  say  of  the  general  implication  ? 
Are  we  to  stop  short  with  the  admission  that  inheritance 
of  functionally-produced  modifications  takes  place  only  in 
cases  in  which  there  is  evidence  of  it  ?  May  we  properly 
assume  that  these  many  instances  of  changes  of  structure 
caused  by  changes  of  function,  occurring  in  various  tissues 
and  various  organs,  are  merely  special  and  exceptional 
instances  having  no  general  significance  ?  Shall  we 
suppose  that  though  the  evidence  which  already  exists 
has  come  to  light  without  aid  from  a  body  of  inquirers, 
there  would  be  no  great  increase  were  due  attention 
devoted  to  the  collection  of  evidence  ?  This  is,  I  think, 
not  a  reasonable  supposition.  To  me  the  ensemble  of  the 
facts  suggests  the  belief,  scarcely  to  be  resisted,  that  the 
inheritance  of  functionally-produced  modifications  takes 
place  universally.  Looking  at  physiological  phenomena  as 
conforming  to  physical  principles,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
that  a  changed  play  of  organic  forces  which  in  many 
cases  of  different  kinds  produces  an  inherited  change  of 
structure,  does  not  do  this  in  all  cases.  The  implicatiovi, 
very  strong  I  think,  is  that  the  action  of  every  organ 
produces  on  it  a  reaction  which,  usually  not  altering  its 
rate  of  nutrition,  sometimes  leaves  it  with  diminisliod 
nutrition  consequent  on  diminished  action,  and  at  other 
28 


.424         THE  FACTORS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION. 

times  increases  its  nutrition  in  proportion  to  its  increased 
•J  action ;  that  while  generating  a  modified  consensus  of 
functions  and  of  structures,  the  activities  are  at  the  same 
time  impressing  this  modified  consensus  on  the  sperm-cells 
and  germ-cells  whence  future  individuals  are  to  be  pro- 
duced ;  and  that  in  ways  mostly  too  small  to  be  identified, 
but  occasionally  in  more  conspicuous  ways  and  in  the 
course  of  generations,  the  resulting  modifications  of  one  or 
other  kind  show  themselves.  Further,  it  seems  to  me  that 
as  there  are  certain  extensive  classes  of  phenomena  which 
are  inexplicable  if  we  assume  the  inheritance  of  fortuitous 
variations  to  be  the  sole  factor,  but  which  become  at  once 
explicable  if  we  admit  the  inheritance  of  functionally-pro- 
duced changes,  we  are  justified  in  concluding  that  this 
inheritance  of  functionally-produced  changes  has  been  not 
simply  a  co-operating  factor  in  organic  evolution,  but  has 
been  a  co-operating  factor  without  which  organic  evolu- 
tion, in  its  higher  forms  at  any  rate,  could  never  have 
taken  place. 

Be  this  or  be  it  not  a  warrantable  conclusion,  there  is, 
I  think,  good  reason  for  a  provisional  acceptance  of  the 
hypothesis  that  the  effects  of  use  and  disuse  are  inheritable  ; 
and  for  a  methodic  pursuit  of  inquiries  with  the  view  of  either 
^^establishing  it  or  disproving  it.  It  seems  scarcely  reasonable 
to  accept  without  clear  demonstration,  the  belief  that  while 
a  trivial  difference  of  structure  arising  spontaneously  is 
transmissible,  a  massive  difference  of  structure,  main- 
tained generation  after  generation  by  change  of  function, 
leaves  no  trace  in  posterity.  Considering  that  unquestionably 
the  modification  of  structure  by  function  is  a  vera  causa, 
in  so  far  as  concerns  the  individual ;  and  considering 
the  number  of  facts  which  so  competent  an  observer  as 
Mr.  Darwin  regarded  as  evidence  that  transmission  of 
Buch  modifications  takes  place  in  particular  cases ;  the 
hypothesis  that  such  transmission  takes  place  in  con- 
formity with  a  general  law,  holding  of  all  active  structures. 


THE    FACTORS    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  425 

should,  I  think,  be  regarded  as  at  least  a  good  working 
hypothesis. 

But  now  supposing  the  broad  conclusion  above  drawn  to 
be  granted — supposing  all  to  agree  that  from  the  beginning, 
along  with  inheritance  of  useful  variations  fortuitously 
arising,  there  has  been  inheritance  of  effects  produced  by 
use  and  disuse;  do  there  remain  no  classes  of  organic 
phenomena  unaccounted  for  ?  To  this  question  I  think  it 
must  be  replied  that  there  do  remain  classes  of  organic 
phenomena  unaccounted  for.  It  may,  I  believe,  be  shown 
that  certain  cardinal  traits  of  animals  and  plants  at  large 
are  still  unexplained ;  and  that  a  further  factor  must 
be  recognized.  To  show  this,  however,  will  require 
another  paper. 


II. 

Ask  a  plumber  who  is  repairing  your  pump,  how  the 
water  is  raised  in  it,  and  he  replies — "  By  suction."  Recall- 
ing the  ability  which  he  has  to  suck  up  water  into  his 
mouth  through  a  tube,  he  is  certain  that  he  understands 
the  pump's  action.  To  inquire  what  he  means  by  suction, 
seems  to  him  absurd.  He  says  you  know  as  well  as  he 
does,  what  he  means ;  and  he  cannot  see  that  there  is  any 
need  for  asking  how  it  happens  that  the  water  rises  in  the 
tube  when  he  strains  his  mouth  in  a  particular  way.  To 
the  question  why  the  pump,  acting  by  suction,  will  not 
make  the  water  rise  above  32  feet,  and  practically  not  so 
much,  he  can  give  no  answer;  but  this  does  not  shake  his 
confidence  in  his  explanation. 

On  the  other  hand  an  inquirer  who  insists  on  knowing 
what  suction  is,  may  obtain  from  the  physicist  answers 
which  give  him  clear  ideas,  not  only  about  it  but  about 
many  other  things.     He  learns  that  on  ourselves  and  aii 


426  THE    FACTOES    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

things  around^  there  is  an  atmospheric  pressure  amounting 
to  about  15  pounds  on  the  square  inch  :  15  pounds  being 
the  average  weight  of  a  column  of  air  having  a  square  inch 
for  its  base  and  extending  upwards  from  the  sea-level  to 
the  limit  of  the  Earth's  atmosphere.  He  is  made  to  observe 
tliat  when  he  puts  one  end  of  a  tube  into  water  and  the 
other  end  into  his  mouth,  and  then  draws  back  his  tongue, 
so  leaving  a  vacant  space,  two  things  happen.  One  is  that 
the  pressure  of  air  outside  his  cheeks,  no  longer  balanced 
by  an  equal  pressure  of  air  inside,  thrusts  his  cheeks 
inwards;  and  the  other  is  that  the  pressure  of  air  on 
the  surface  of  the  water,  no  longer  balanced  by  an  equal 
pressure  of  air  within  the  tube  and  his  mouth  (into  which 
part  of  the  air  from  the  tube  has  gone)  the  water  is  forced 
up  the  tube  in  consequence  of  the  unequal  pressure.  Once 
understanding  thus  the  nature  of  the  so-called  suction, 
he  sees  how  it  happens  that  when  the  plunger  of  the  pump 
is  raised  and  relieves  from  atmospheric  pressure  the  water 
below  it,  the  atmospheric  pressure  on  the  water  in  the  well, 
not  being  balanced  by  that  on  the  water  in  the  tube,  forces 
the  water  higher  up  the  tube,  so  that  it  follows  the  plunger. 
And  now  he  sees  why  the  water  cannot  be  raised  beyond 
the  theoretic  limit  of  32  feet:  a  limit  made  much  lower 
in  practice  by  imperfections  in  the  apparatus.  For  if, 
simplifying  the  conception,  he  supposes  the  tube  of  the 
pump  to  be  a  square  inch  in  section,  then  the  atmospheric 
pressure  of  15  pounds  per  square  inch  on  the  water  in  the 
well,  can  raise  the  water  in  the  tube  to  such  height  only 
that  the  entire  column  of  it  weighs  15  pounds.  Having 
been  thus  enlightened  about  the  pump's  action,  the  action 
of  a  barometer  becomes  intelligible.  He  perceives  how, 
under  the  conditions  established,  the  weight  of  the  column 
of  mercury  balances  that  of  an  atmospheric  column  of 
equal  diameter;  and  how,  as  the  weight  of  the  atmospheric 
column  varies,  there  is  a  corresponding  variation  in  the 
weight  of   the   mercurial   column, — shown   by  change  of 


THE    FACTORS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  427 

height.  Moreover,  having"  previously  supposed  that  he 
understood  the  ascent  of  a  balloon  when  he  ascribed  it  to 
relative  lightness,  he  now  sees  that  he  did  not  truly  under- 
stand it.  For  he  did  not  recognize  it  as  a  result  of  that 
upward  pressure  caused  by  the  difference  between  the 
weight  of  the  mass  formed  by  the  gas  in  the  balloon  plufi 
the  cylindrical  column  of  air  extending  above  it  to  the  limit 
of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  weight  of  a  similar  cylindrical 
column  of  air  extending  down  to  the  under  surface  of  the 
balloon  :  this  difference  of  weight  causing  an  equivalent 
upward  pressure  on  the  under  surface. 

Why  do  I  introduce  these  familiar  truths  so  entirely  irre- 
levant to  my  subject  ?  I  do  it  to  show,  in  the  first  place, 
the  contrast  between  a  vague  conception  of  a  cause  and  a  ' 
distinct  conception  of  it;  or  rather,  the  contrast  between 
that  conception  of  a  cause  which  results  when  it  is  simply 
classed  with  some  other  or  others  which  familiarity  makes 
us  think  we  understand,  and  that  conception  of  a  cause 
which  results  when  it  is  represented  in  terms  of  definite 
physical  forces  admitting  of  measurement.  And  I  do  it  to 
show,  in  the  second  place,  that  when  we  insist  on  resolving 
a  verbally-intelligible  cause  into  its  actual  factors,  we 
get  not  only  a  clear  solution  of  the  problem  before  us,  but 
we  find  that  the  way  is  opened  to  solutions  of  sundry  other 
problems.  While  we  rest  satisfied  with  unanalyzed  causes, 
we  may  be  sure  both  that  we  do  not  rightly  comprehend  the 
production  of  the  particular  effects  ascribed  to  them,  and 
that  we  overlook  other  effects  which  would  be  revealed 
to  us  by  contemplation  of  the  causes  as  analyzed.  Espe- 
cially must  this  be  so  where  the  causation  is  complex.' 
Hence  we  may  infer  that  the  phenomena  presented  by 
the  dovelopment  of  species,  are  not  likely  to  be  truly 
conceived  unless  we  keep  in  view  the  concrete  agencies  at 
work.     Let  us  look  closely  at  the  facts  to  be  dealt  with. 

The  growth  of  a  thing  is  effected  by  the  joint  operation 


428  TnE    FACTOIDS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

of  certain  forces  on  certain  materials  ;  and  when  it  dwindles, 
there  is  either  a  lack  of  some  materials,  or  the  forces  co- 
operate in  a  way  different  from  that  which  produces  growth. 
y'  If  a  structure  has  varied,  the  implication  is  that  the  processes 
which  built  it  up  were  made  unlike  the  parallel  processes 
in  other  cases,  by  the  greater  or  less  amount  of  some  one  or 
more  of  the  matters  or  actions  concerned.  Where  there 
is  unusual  fertility,  the  play  of  vital  activities  is  thereby 
shown  to  have  deviated  from  the  ordinary  play  of  vital 
activities ;  and  conversely,  if  there  is  infertility.  If  the 
germs,  or  ova,  or  seed,  or  offspring  partially  developed, 
survive  more  or  survive  less,  it  is  either  because  their 
molar  or  molecular  structures  are  unlike  the  average  ones, 
or  because  they  are  affected  in  unlike  ways  by  surrounding 
agencies.  When  life  is  prolonged,  the  fact  implies  that 
the  combination  of  actions,  visible  and  invisible,  consti- 
tuting life,  retains  its  equilibrium  longer  than  usual  in 
presence  of  environing  forces  which  tend  to  destroy  its 
equilibrium.  That  is  to  say,  growth,  variation,  survival, 
death,  if  they  are  to  be  reduced  to  the  forms  in  which 
physical  science  can  recognize  them,  must  be  expressed 
as  effects  of  agencies  definitely  conceived — mechanical 
forces,  light,  heat,  chemical  affinity,  &c. 

This  general  conclusion  brings  with  it  the  thought  that 
the  phrases  employed  in  discussing  organic  evolution, 
though  convenient  and  indeed  needful,  are  liable  to  mislead 
us  by  veiling  the  actual  agencies.  That  which  really  goes 
on  in  every  organism  is  the  working  together  of  component 
parts  in  ways  conducing  to  the  continuance  of  their  com- 
bined actions,  in  presence  of  things  and  actions  outside ; 
some  of  which  tend  to  subserve,  and  others  to  destroy,  the 
combination.  The  matters  and  forces  in  these  two  groups, 
are  the  sole  causes  properly  so  called.  The  words  "natu- 
"^al  selection,"  do  not  express  a  cause  in  the  physical  sense. 
They  express  a  mode  of  co-operation  among  causes — or 
rather,  to  speak  strictly,  tLey  express    an    effect  of    this 


THE    FACTORS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  429 

mode  of  co-operation.  The  idea  they  convey  seems  perfectly 
intelligible.  Natural  selection  having  been  compared  with 
artificial  selection,  and  the  analogy  pointed  out,  there 
apparently  remains  no  indefiniteness  :  the  inconvenience 
being,  however,  that  the  definiteness  is  of  a  wrong  kind. 
The  tacitly  implied  Nature  which  selects,  is  not  an  em- 
bodied agency  analogous  to  the  man  who  selects  artificially  ; 
and  Jhe  selection  is  not  the  picking  out  of  an  individual 
fixed  on,  but  the  overthrowing  of  many  individuals  by 
agencies  which  one  successfully  resists,  and  hence  con- 
tinues to  live  and  multiply.  Mr.  Darwin  was  conscious 
of  these  misleading  implications.  In  the  introduction  to  his 
Animals  and  Plants  under  Domestication  (p.  6)  he  says  : — 
"  For  brevity  sake  I  sometimes  speak  of  natural  selection  as  an  intelligent 
power  ;  .  .  .  I  have,  also,  often  personified  the  word  Nature  ;  for  I  have 
found  it  difficult  to  avoid  this  ambiguity  ;  but  I  mean  by  nature  only  the 
aggregate  action  and  product  of  many  natural  laws, — and  by  laws  only  the 
ascertained  sequence  of  events." 

But  while  he  thus  clearly  saw,  and  distinctly  asserted, 
that  the  factors  of  organic  evolution  are  the  concrete 
actions,  inner  and  outer, .  to  which  every  organism  is 
subject,  Mr.  Darwin,  by  habitually  using  the  convenient 
figure  of  speech,  was,  I  think,  prevented  from  recognizing 
so  fully  as  he  would  otherwise  have  done,  certain  funda- 
mental consequences  of  these  actions. 

Though  it  does  not  personalize  the  cause,  and  does  not 
assimilate  its  mode  of  working  to  a  human  mode  of  work- 
ing, kindred  objections  may  be  urged  against  the  expression 
to  which  I  was  led  when  seeking  to  present  the  phenomena 
in  literal  terms  rather  than  metaphorical  terms — the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest;^  for  in  a  vague  way  the  first  word, 
and  in  a  clear  way  the  second  word,   calls  up  an  anthro- 

*  Though  Mr.  Dai-win  approved  of  this  expression  and  occasionally 
employed  it,  he  did  not  adopt  it  for  general  use ;  contending,  very  truly, 
that  the  expression  Natural  Selection  is  in  some  cases  more  convenient. 
See  Animah  and  Plants  lotdcr  Domestication  (first  edition)  Vol.  i,  p.  6;  and 
Origin  of  Species  (sixth  edition)  p.  49. 


430  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

pocentric  idea.  The  tliought  of  survival  inevitably  suggests 
the  human  view  of  certain  sets  of  phenomena,  rather  than 
that  character  which  they  have  simply  as  groups  of 
changes.  If,  asking  what  we  really  know  of  a  plant,  we 
exclude  all  the  ideas  associated  with  the  words  life  and 
death,  we  find  that  the  sole  facts  known  to  us  are  that 
there  go  on  in  the  plant  certain  inter-dependent  processes, 
in  presence  of  certain  aiding  and  hindering  influences  out- 
side of  it ;  and  that  in  some  cases  a  difference  of  structure 
or  a  favourable  set  of  circumstances,  allows  these  inter- 
dependent processes  to  go  on  for  longer  periods  than  in 
other  cases.  Again,  in  the  working  together  of  those  many 
actions,  internal  and  external,  which  determine  the  lives 
or  deaths  of  organisms,  we  see  nothing  to  which  the  words 
fitness  and  unfitness  are  applicable  in  the  physical  sense. 
If  a  key  fits  a  lock,  or  a  glove  a  hand,  the  relation  of  the 
things  to  one  another  is  presentable  to  the  perceptions. 
No  approach  to  fitness  of  this  kind  is  made  by  an  organism 
which  continues  to  live  under  certain  conditions.  Neither 
the  organic  structures  themselves,  nor  their  individual 
movements,  nor  those  combined  movements  of  certain 
among  them  which  constitute  conduct,  are  related  in  any 
analogous  way  to  the  things  and  actions  in  the  environ- 
ment. Evidently  the  word  fittest,  as  thus  used,  is  a  figure 
of  speech;  suggesting  the  fact  that  amid  surrounding 
actions,  an  organism  characterized  by  the  word  has  either 
1  a  greater  ability  than  others  of  its  kind  to  maintain  the 
'  equilibrium  of  its  vital  activities,  or  else  has  so  much 
greater  a  power  of  multiplication  that  though  not  longer 
\lived  than  they,  it  continues  to  live  in  posterity  more 
persistently.  And  indeed,  as  we  here  see,  the  word  fittest 
has  to  cover  cases  in  which  there  may  be  less  ability  than 
usual  to  survive  individually,  but  in  which  the  defect  is 
more  than  made  good  by  higher  degrees  of  fertility. 

I  have    elaborated  this    criticism  with  the  intention  of 
emphasizing  the  need  for  studying  the  changes  which  have 


THE  FACTORS  OP  OEGANIC  EVOLUTION.        431 

gone  on,  and  are  ever  going  on,  in  organic  bodies,  from  an 
exclusively  physical  point  of  view.  On  contemplating  the 
facts  from  this  point  of  view,  we  become  aware  that, 
besides  those  special  effects  of  the  co-operating  forces 
which  eventuate  in  the  longer  survival  of  one  individual 
than  of  others,  and  in  the  consequent  increase  through 
generations,  of  some  trait  which  furthered  its  survival, 
many  other  effects  are  being  wrought  on  each  and  all 
of  the  individuals.  Bodies  of  every  class  and  quality, 
inorganic  as  well  as  organic,  are  from  instant  to  instant 
subject  to  the  influences  in  their  environments ;  are 
from  instant  to  instant  being  changed  by  these  in  ways 
that  are  mostly  inconspicuous;  and  are  in  course  of  time 
changed  by  them  in  conspicuous  ways.  Living  things  in 
common  with  dead  things,  are,  I  say,  being  thus  perpetu- 
ally acted  upon  and  modified;  and  the  changes  hence 
resulting,  constitute  an  all-important  part  of  those  under- 
gone in  the  course  of  organic  evolution.  I  do  not  mean  to 
imply  that  changes  of  this  class  pass  entirely  unrecognized  ; 
for,  as  we  shall  see,  Mr.  Darwin  takes  cognizance  of  certain 
secondary  and  special  ones.  But  the  effects  which  are  not 
taken  into  account,  are  those  primary  and  universal  effects 
which  give  certain  fundamental  characters  to  all  organisms. 
Contemplation  of  an  analogy  will  best  prepare  the  way  for 
appreciation  of  them,  and  of  the  relation  they  bear  to  those 
which  at  present  monopolize  attention. 

An  observant  rambler  along  shores,  will,  here  and  there, 
note  places  where  the  sea  has  deposited  things  more  or  less 
similar,  and  separated  them  from  dissimilar  things — will 
see  shingle  parted  from  sand;  larger  stones  sorted  from 
smaller  stones;  and  will  occasionally  discover  deposits  of 
shells  more  or  less  worn  by  being  rolled  about.  Sometimes 
the  pebbles  or  boulders  composing  the  shingle  at  one  end 
of  a  bay,  he  will  find  much  larger  than  those  at  the 
other :  intermediate  sizes,  having  small  average  differences, 

occupying  the  space  between  the  extremes.     An  example 
c 


432        THE  FACTORS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION. 

occurs,  if  I  remember  riglitly,  some  mile  or  two  to  tlie 
west  of  Tenby;  but  the  most  remarkable  and  well-known 
example  is  that  afforded  by  the  Cliesil  bank.  Here,  along 
a  shore  some  sixteen  miles  long,  there  is  a  gradual  in- 
crease in  the  sizes  of  the  stones;  which,  being  at  one  end 
but  mere  pebbles,  are  at  the  other  end  immense  boulders. 
In  this  case,  then,  the  breakers  and  the  undertow  have 
effected  a  selection — have  at  each  place  left  behind  those 
rtones  which  were  too  large  to  be  readily  moved,  while 
taking  away  others  small  enough  to  be  raoved  easily.  But 
now,  if  we  contemplate  exclusively  this  selective  action  of 
the  sea,  we  overlook  certain  important  effects  which  the 
sea  simultaneously  works.  While  the  stones  have  been 
differently  acted  upon  in  so  far  that  some  have  been  left 
here  and  some  carried  there;  they  have  been  similarly 
acted  upon  in  two  allied,  but  distinguishable,  ways.  By 
perpetually  rolling  them  about  and  knocking  them  one 
against  another,  the  waves  have  so  broken  off  their  most 
prominent  parts  as  to  produce  in  all  of  them  more  or  less 
rounded  forms;  and  then,  further,  the  mutual  friction 
of  the  stones  simultaneously  caused,  has  smoothed  their 
surfaces.  That  is  to  say  in  general  terms,  the  actions  of 
environing  agencies,  so  far  as  they  have  operated  indiscri- 
minately, have  produced  in  the  stones  a  certain  unity  of 
character;  at  the  same  time  that  they  have,  by  their 
differential  effects,  separated  them :  the  larger  ones  having 
withstood  certain  violent  actions  which  the  smaller  ones 
could  not  withstand. 

Similarly  with  other  assemblages  of  objects  which  are 
alike  in  their  primary  traits  but  unlike  in  their  secondary 
traits.  When  simultaneously  exposed  to  the  same  set  of 
Jij^ctions,  some  of  these  actions,  rising  to  a  certain  intensity, 
may  be  expected  to  work  on  particular  members  of  the 
assemblage  changes  which  they  cannot  work  in  those  which 
are  markedly  unlike;  while  others  of  the  actions  will  work 
in  all  of  them  similar  changes,  because  of   the  uniform 


THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  433 

relations  between  these  actions  and  certain  attributes 
common  to  all  members  of  the  assemblage.  Hence  it  is 
inferable  that  on  living  organisms,  which  form  an  assem- 
blage of  this  kind,  and  are  unceasingly  exposed  in  common 
to  the  agencies  composing  their  inorganic  environments, 
there  must  be  wrought  two  such  sets  of  effects.  There 
will  result  a  universal  likeness  among  them  consequent  on 
the  likeness  of  their  respective  relations  to  the  matters 
and  forces  around ;  and  there  will  result,  in  some  cases,  the 
differences  due  to  the  differential  effects  of  these  matters 
and  forces,  and  in  other  cases,  the  changes  which,  being 
life-sustaining  or  life-destroying,  eventuate  in  certain 
natural  selections. 

I  have,  above,  made  a  passing  reference  to  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Darwin  did  not  fail  to  take  account  of  some  among 
these  effects  directly  produced  on  organisms  by  surrounding 
inorganic  agencies.  Here  are  extracts  from  the  sixth 
edition  of  the  Origin  of  Species  showing  this. 
•'  It  is  very  difiBcult  to  decide  how  far  changed  conditions,  such  as  of 
climate,  food,  &c.,  have  acted  in  a  definite  manner.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  in  the  course  of  time  the  effects  have  been  greater  than  can  be 
proved  by  clear  evidence.  .  .  .  Mr.  Gould  believes  that  birds  of  the  same 
species  are  more  brightly  coloured  under  a  clear  atmosphere,  than  when 
living  near  the  coast  or  on  islands ;  and  WoUaston  is  convinced  that 
residence  near  the  sea  affects  the  colours  of  insects.  Moquin-Tandon 
gives  a  list  of  plants  which,  when  growing  near  the  sea-shore,  have  their 
leaves  in  some  degree  fleshy,  though  not  elsewhere  fleshy  "  (pp.  106-7). 
"  Some  observers  are  convinced  that  a  damp  climate  affects  the  growth  of 
the  hair,  and  that  with  the  hair  the  horns  are  correlated  "  (p.  159). 

In  his  subsequent  work,  Animals  and  Plants  under 
Domestication,  Mr.  Darwin  still  more  clearly  recognizes 
these  causes  of  change  in  organization.  A  chapter  is 
devoted  to  the  subject.  After  premising  that  "  the  direct 
action  of  the  conditions  of  life,  whether  leading  to  definite 
or  indefinite  results,  is  a  totally  distinct  consideration 
from  the  effects  of  natural  selection;'^  he  goes  on  to  say 
that  changed  conditions  of  life  "have  acted  so  definitfly 
and  powerfully  on  the  organisation   of  our  domesticated 


434  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

productions,  that  tliey  liave  sufficed  to  form  new  suT)- 
varieties  or  races,  without  the  aid  of  selection  by  man  or 
of  natural  selection."  Of  his  examples  here  are  two. 
"  I  have  given  in  detail  in  the  ninth  chapter  the  most  remarkable  case 
known  to  me,  namely,  that  in  Germany  several  varieties  of  maize  brought 
from  the  hotter  parts  of  America  were  transformed  in  the  course  of  only 
two  or  three  generations."  (Vol.  ii,  p.  277.)  [And  in  this  ninth  chapter 
concerning  these  and  other  such  instances  he  says  "some  of  the  foregoing 
differences  would  certainly  be  considered  of  specific  value  with  plants  in  a 
stale  of  nature."  (Vol.  i,  p.  321.)]  "  Mr.  Meehan,  in  a  remarkable  paper, 
compares  twenty-nine  kinds  of  American  trees,  belonging  to  various  orders, 
with  their  nearest  European  allies,  all  grown  in  close  proximity  in  the 
same  garden  and  under  as  nearly  as  possible  the  same  conditions."  And 
then  enumerating  six  traits  in  which  the  American  forms  all  of  them  differ 
in  like  ways  from  their  allied  European  forms,  Mr.  Darwin  thinks  there  is 
no  choice  but  to  conclude  that  these  "  have  been  definitely  caused  by  the 
long-continued  action  of  the  different  climate  of  the  two  continents  on  the 
trees."  (Vol.  ii,  pp.  281-2.) 

But  the  fact  we  have  to  note  is  that  while  Mr.  Darwin 
thus  took  account  of  special  effects  due  to  special  amounts 
and  combinations  of  agencies  in  the  environment,  he  did 
not  take  account  of  the  far  more  important  effects  due  to 
the  general  and  constant  operation  of  these  agencies."^  If 
a  difference  between  the  quantities  of  a  force  which  acts 
on  two  organisms,  otherwise  alike  and  otherwise  similarly 
conditioned,  produces  some  difference  between  them;  then, 
by  implication,  this  force  produces  in  both  of  them  effects 

*  It  is  true  that  while  not  deliberately  admitted  by  Mr.  Darwin,  these 
effects  are  not  denied  by  him.  In  his  Animals  and  Plants  under  Domesti- 
cation (vol.  ii,  281),  he  refers  to  certain  chapters  in  the  Principles  of 
Piology,  in  which  I  have  discussed  this  general  inter-action  of  the  medium 
and  the  organism,  and  ascribed  certain  most  general  traits  to  it.  But 
though,  by  his  expressions,  he  implies  a  sympathetic  attention  to  the 
argument,  he  does  not  in  such  way  adopt  the  conclusion  as  to  assign 
to  this  factor  any  share  in  the  genesis  of  organic  structures — much  less 
that  large  share  which  I  believe  it  has  had.  I  did  not  myself  at  that 
time,  nor  indeed  until  quite  recently,  see  how  extensive  and  profound  have 
been  the  influences  on  organization  which,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  are 
traceable  to  the  early  results  of  this  fundamental  relation  between  organism 
and  medium.  I  may  add  that  it  is  in  an  essay  on  "  Transcendental 
Physiology,"  first  published  in  1857,  that  the  line  of  thought  here  followed 
out  in  its  wider  bearings,  was  first  entered  upon. 


THE  FACTORS  OP  OEGANIC  EVOLUTION.        435 

wliich  they  show  in  common.  *  The  inequality  between  two 
things  cannot  have  a  value  unless  the  things  themselves 
have  values.  Similarly  if,  in  two  cases,  some  unlikeness  of 
proportion  among  the  surrounding  inorganic  agencies  to 
which  two  plants  or  two  animals  are  exposed,  is  followed 
by  some  unlikeness  in  the  changes  wrought  on  them ;  then 
it  follows  that  these  several  agencies  taken  separately,  work 
changes  in  both  of  them.  Hence  we  must  infer  that 
organisms  have  certain  structural  characters  in  common, 
which  are  consequent  on  the  action  of  the  medium  in 
which  they  exist :  using  the  word  medium  in  a  compre- 
hensive sense,  as  including  all  physical  forces  falling  upon 
them  as  well  as  matters  bathing  them.  And  we  may  con- 
clude that  from  the  primary  characters  thus  produced  there 
must  result  secondary  characters. 

Before  going  on  to  observe  those  general  traits  of 
organisms  due  to  the  general  action  of  the  inorganic 
environment  upon  them,  I  feel  tempted  to  enlarge  on 
the  effects  produced  by  each  of  the  several  matters  and 
forces  constituting  the  environment.  I  should  like  to  do 
this  not  only  to  give  a  clear  preliminary  conception  of 
the  ways  in  which  all  organisms  are  affected  by  these 
universally-present  agents,  but  also  to  show  that,  in  the 
first  place,  these  agents  modify  inorganic  bodies  as  well 
as  organic  bodies,  and  that,  in  the  second  place,  the  organic 
are  far  more  modifiable  by  them  than  the  inorganic.  But 
to  avoid  undue  suspension  of  the  argument,  I  content 
myself  with  saying  that  when  the  respective  effects  of 
gravitation,  heat,  light,  &c.,  are  studied,  as  well  as  the 
respective  effects,  physical  and  chemical,  of  the  matters 
forming  the  media,  water  and  air,  it  will  be  found  that 
while  more  or  less  operative  on  all  bodies,  each  modifies 
organic  bodies  to  an  extent  immensely  greater  than  the 
extent  to  which  it  modifies  inorganic  bodies. 

Here,  not  discriminating  among  the  special  effects  which 


436  THE    FACTORS    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

these  various  forces  and  matters  in  the  environment 
produce  on  both  classes  of  bodies,  let  us  consider  their 
combined  effects,  and  ask — What  is  the  most  general  trait 
of  such  effects  ? 

Obviously  the  most  general  trait  is  the  greater  amount 
v9  of  change  wrought  on  the  outer  surface  than  on  the  inner 
mass.  In  so  far  as  the  matters  of  which  the  medium  is 
composed  come  into  play,  the  unavoidable  implication  is 
that  they  act  more  on  the  parts  directly  exposed  to  them 
than  on  the  parts  sheltered  from  them.  And  in  so  far  as 
the  forces  pervading  the  medium  come  into  play,  it  is 
manifest  that,  excluding  gravity,  which  affects  outer  and 
inner  parts  indiscriminately,  the  outer  parts  have  to  bear 
larger  shares  of  their  actions.  If  it  is  a  question  of  heat, 
then  the  exterior  must  lose  it  or  gain  it  faster  than  the 
interior;  and  in  a  medium  which  is  now  warmer  and  now 
colder,  the  two  must  habitually  differ  in  temperature  to 
some  extent — at  least  where  the  size  is  considerable.  If 
it  is  a  question  of  light,  then  in  all  but  absolutely  trans- 
parent masses,  the  outer  parts  must  undergo  more  of  any 
change  producible  by  it  than  the  inner  parts — supposing 
other  things  equal ;  by  which  I  mean,  supposing  the  case 
is  not  complicated  by  any  such  convexities  of  the  outer 
surface  as  produce  internal  concentrations  of  rays.  Hence 
then,  speaking  generally,  the  necessity  is  that  the  primary 
and  almost  universal  effect  of  the  converse  between  the 
body  and  its  medium,  is  to  differentiate  its  outside  from  its 
inside.  I  say  almost  universal,  because  where  the  body  is 
both  mechanically  and  chemically  stable,  like,  for  instance, 
a  quartz  crystal,  the  medium  may  fail  to  work  either  inner 
or  outer  change. 

Of  illustrations  among  inorganic  bodies,  a  convenient 
one  is  supplied  by  an  old  cannon-ball  that  has  been  long 
lying  exposed.  A  coating  of  rust,  formed  of  flakes  within 
tlakes,  incloses  it ;  and  this  thickens  year  by  year,  until, 
perhaps,  it  reaches  a  stage  at  which  its  exterior  loses  as 


THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  437 

much  by  rain  and  wiud  as  its  interior  gains  by  further 
oxidation  of  the  iron.  Most  mineral  masses — pebbles, 
boulders,  rocks — if  they  show  any  effect  of  the  environment 
at  all,  show  it  only  by  that  disintegration  of  surface 
which  follows  the  freezing  of  absorbed  water :  an  effect 
which,  though  mechanical  rather  than  chemical,  equally 
illustrates  the  general  truth.  Occasionally  a  "  rocking- 
stone  "  is  thus  produced.  There  are  formed  successive 
layei's  relatively  friable  in  texture,  each  of  which,  thickest 
at  the  most  exposed  parts,  and  being  presently  lost  by 
weathering,  leaves  the  contained  mass  in  a  shape  more 
rounded  than  before;  until,  resting  on  its  convex  under- 
surface,  it  is  easily  moved.  But  of  all  instances  perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  is  one  to  be  seen  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Nile  at  Philte,  where  a  ridge  of  granite  100  feet  high, 
has  had  its  outer  parts  reduced  in  course  of  time  to  a 
collection  of  boulder-shaped  masses,  varying  from  say  a 
yard  in  diameter  to  six  or  eight  feet,  each  one  of  which 
shows  in  progress  an  exfoliation  of  successively-formed 
shells  of  decomposed  granite  :  most  of  the  masses  having 
portions  of  such  shells  partially  detached. 

If,  now,  inorganic  masses,  relatively  so  stable  in  com- 
position, thus  have  their  outer  parts  differentiated  from 
their  inner  parts,  what  must  we  say  of  organic  masses, 
characterized  by  such  extreme  chemical  instability  ? — > 
instability  so  great  that  their  essential  material  is  named 
protein,  to  indicate  the  readiness  with  which  it  passes 
from  one  isomeric  form  to  another.  Clearly  the  necessary 
inference  is  that  this  effect  of  the  medium  must  bo 
wrought  inevitably  and  promptly,  wherever  the  relation 
of  outer  and  inner  has  become  settled:  a  qualification  for 
which  the  need  will  be  seen  hereafter. 

Beginning  with  the  earliest  and  most  mimite  kinds 
of  living  things,  we  necessarily  encounter  difficulties  in 
getting  direct  evidence;    sincOj  of   the   countless  specioa 


438  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

now  existing,  all  1  a^e  been  subject  during  millions  npon 
millions  of  years  to  the  evolutionary  process,  and  have  had 
their  primary  traits  complicated  and  obscured  by  those 
endless  secondary  traits  which  the  natural  selection  of 
favourable  variations  has  produced.  Among  protophytes 
it  needs  but  to  think  of  the  multitudinous  varieties  of 
diatoms  and  desmids,  with  their  elaborately-constructed 
coverings  ;  or  of  the  definite  methods  of  growth  and 
multiplication  among  such  simple  Algse  as  the  Conjugate  ; 
to  see  that  most  of  their  distinctive  characters  are  due  to 
inherited  constitutions,  Avhich  have  been  slowly  moulded  by 
survival  of  the  fittest  to  this  or  that  mode  of  life.  To 
disentangle  such  parts  of  their  developmental  changes  as 
are  due  to  the  action  of  the  medium,  is  therefore  hardly 
possible.  We  can  hope  only  to  get  a  general  conception  of 
it  by  contemplating  the  totality  of  the  facts. 

The  first  cardinal  fact  is  that  all  protophytes  are  cellular 
— all  show  us  this  contrast  between  outside  and  inside. 
Supposing  the  multitudinous  specialities  of  the  envelope 
in  different  orders  and  genera  of  protophytes  to  be  set 
against  one  another,  and  mutually  cancelled,  there  remains 
as  a  trait  common  to  them — an  envelope  unlike  that  which 
it  envelopes.  The  second  cardinal  fact  is  that  this  simple 
trait  is  the  earliest  trait  displayed  in  germs,  or  spores, 
or  other  parts  from  which  new  individuals  are  to  arise; 
and  that,  consequently,  this  trait  must  be  regarded  as 
having  been  primordial.  LFor  it  is  an  established  truth  of 
organic  evolution  that  embryos  show  us,  in  general  ways, 
the  forms  of  remote  ancestors ;  and  that  the  first  changes 
undergone,  indicate,  more  or  less  clearly,  the  first  changes 
which  took  place  in  the  series  of  forms  through  which  the 
existing  form  has  been  reached.  Describing,  in  successive 
groups  of  plants,  the  early  transformations  of  these  primi- 
tive  units,  Sachs"^  says  of  the  lowest  Algse  that  "the  con- 

*  Text-Book  of  Botany,  dc.  by  Julius  Sachs.  Translated  by  A.  W.  Bennett 
•nd  W.  T.  T.  Uyer. 


THE    FACTOKS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  439 

jiigated  protoplasmic  body  clothes  itself  witli  a  cell-wall " 

(p.  10) ;  that  in  "  the  spores  of  Mosses  and  Vascular  Crypto 

gams "  and   in  "  the  pollen  of  Phanerogams "  .  .  .  "  tJie 

protoplasmic  body  of  the  mother-cell  breaks  up  into  four 

lumps,  which  quickly  round  themselves  off  and  contract,  and 

become  enveloped  by  a  cell-membrane  only  after  complete 

separation"   (p.  13)  ;  that  in  the  Equisetacess  "the  young 

spores,  when  first  separated,  are  still  naked,  but  they  soon 

become  surrounded  by  a  cell-membrane  "  (p.  14) ;  and  that 

in  higher  plants,  as  in  the  pollen  of  many  Dicotyledons, 

*nhe    contracting    daughter-cells    secrete    cellulose    even 

during  their  separation"  (p.  14).     Here,  then,  in  whatever 

way  we  interpret  it,  the  fact  is  that  there  quickly  arises  an. 

outer  layer  different  from  the  contained  matter.     But  the 

most  significant  evidence  is  furnished  by  "  the  masses  of 

protoplasm  that  escape  into  water  from  the  injured  sacs 

of  Vaucheria,  which  often  instantly  become  rounded  into 

globular  bodies,"  and  of  which  the   "  hyaline  protoplasm 

envelopes  the  whole  as  a  skin"  (p.  41)  which  "is  denser  than 

the  inner  and  more  watery  substance  "  (p.  42).     As  in  this 

case  the  protoplasm  is  but  a  fragment,  and  as  it  is  removed 

from  the  influence  of  the  parent-cell,   this  differentiating 

process  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  anything  more  than 

the  effect  of  physico-chemical  actions  :  a  conclusion  which 

is   supported  by  the   statement  of  Sachs  that  "not   only 

every  vacuole  in   a  solid  protoplasmic  body,  but  also  every 

thread  of  protoplasm  which  penetrates  the  sap-cavity,  and 

finally  the  inner  side  of  the  protoplasm-sac  which  encloses 

the  sap-cavity,  is   also  bounded  by  a  skin"   (p.   42).     If 

then  "  every  portion  of  a  protoplasmic  body  immediately 

surrounds  itself,  when  it   becomes  isolated,   with  such    a 

skin,"  which  is  shown  in  all  cases  to  arise  at  the  surface  of 

contact  with  sap  or  water,  this  primary  differentiation  of 

outer  from  inner  must  be  ascribed  to  the  direct  action  of 

the  medium.  Whether  the  coating  thus  initiated  is  secreted 

by  the  protoplasm,  or  whether,  as  seems  more  likely,  it 
29 


440  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

results  from  transformation  of  it,  matters  not  to  tlie  argu- 
ment. Either  way  the  action  of  the  medium  causes  its 
formation;  and  either  way  the  many  varied  and  complex 
differentiations  which  developed  cell-walls  display,  must  be 
considered  as  originating  from  those  variations  of  this 
physically-generated  covering  which  natural  selection  has 
taken  advantage  of. 

The  contained  protoplasm  of  a  vegetal  cell,  which  has 
self  -  mobility  and  when  liberated  sometimes  performs 
amoeba-like  motions  for  a  time,  may  be  regarded  as  an 
imprisoned  amoeba ;  and  when  we  pass  from  it  to  a  free 
amoeba,  which  is  one  of  the  simplest  types  of  first  animals, 
or  Protozoa,  we  naturally  meet  with  kindred  phenomena. 
The  general  trait  which  here  concerns  us,  is  that  while 
its  plastic  or  semi-fluid  sarcode  goes  on  protruding,  in 
[i-regular  ways,  now  this  and  now  that  part  of  its  peri- 
phery, and  again  withdrawing  into  its  interior  first  one 
and  then  another  of  these  temporary  processes,  perhaps 
with  some  small  portion  of  food  attached,  there  is  but 
an  indistinct  differentiation  of  outer  from  inner  (a  fact 
shown  by  the  frequent  coalescence  of  the  pseudopodia  in 
Rhizopods) ;  but  that  when  it  eventually  becomes  quiescent, 
the  surface  becomes  differentiated  from  the  contents  :  the 
passing  into  an  encysted  state,  doubtless  in  large  measure 
due  to  inherited  proclivity,  being  furthered,  and  having 
probably  been  once  initiated,  by  the  action  of  the  medium. 
The  connexion  between  constancy  of  relative  position  among 
the  parts  of  the  sarcode,  and  the  rise  of  a  contrast  between 
superficial  and  central  parts,  is  perhaps  best  shown  in  the 
minutest  and  simplest  Infusoria,  the  Monadinse.  The  genua 
Monas  is  described  by  Kent  as  "plastic  and  unstable  in  form, 
possessing  no  distinct  cuticular  investment ;  .  .  .  the  food- 
substances  incepted  at  all  parts  of  the  periphery " ;  *  and 
the  genus  Scytomonas  he  says  "  differs  from  Monas  only  in 

•  A  Manual  of  tlie  Infusoria,  by  W.  Saville  Kent.    Vol.  i,  p.  232. 


THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  441 

its  persistent  shape  and  accompanying  greater  rigidity  of 
tlie  periplieral  or  ectoplasmic  layer."  "^  Describing  generally 
sucli  low  forms,  some  of  "whicli  are  said  to  have  neither 
nucleus  nor  vacuole,  he  remarks  that  in  types  somewhat 
higher  "  the  outer  or  peripheral  border  of  the  protoplasmic 
mass,  while  not  assuming  the  character  of  a  distinct  cell- 
wall  or  so-called  cuticle,  presents,  as  compared  with  the 
inner  substance  of  that  mass,  a  slightly  more  solid  type  of 
composition."  t  And  it  is  added  that  these  forms  having  so 
slightly  differentiated  an  exterior, "  while  usually  exhibiting 
a  more  or  less  characteristic  normal  outline,  can  revert  at 
will  to  a  pseud-amoeboid  and  repent  state."  J  Here,  then, 
we  have  several  indications  of  the  truth  that  the  permanent 
externality  of  a  certain  part  of  the  substance,  is  followed 
by  transformation  of  it  into  a  coating  unlike  the  substance 
it  contains.  Indefinite  and  structureless  in  the  simplest  of 
these  forms,  as  instance  again  the  Gregarina,§  the  limiting 
membrane  becomes,  in  higher  Infusoria,  definite  and  often 
complex :  showing  that  the  selection  of  favourable  varia- 
tions has  had  largely  to  do  with  its  formation.  In  such 
types  as  the  Foraminifera,  which,  almost  structureless 
iuLernally  though  they  are,  secrete  calcareous  shells,  it  is 
clear  that  the  nature  of  this  outer  layer  is  determined  by 
inherited  constitution.  But  recognition  of  this  consists 
with  the  belief  that  the  action  of  the  medium  initiated  the 
outer  layer,  specialized  though  it  now  is ;  and  that  even 
still,  contact  with  the  medium  excites  secretion  of  it. 

A  remarkable  analogy  remains  to  be  named.  When 
we  study  the  action  of  the  medium  in  an  inorganic  mass, 
we  are  led  to  see  that  between  the  outer  changed  layer 
and  the  inner  unchanged  mass,  comes  a  surface  where 
active  change  is  going  on.  Here  we  have  to  note  that,  alike 
in  the  plant-cell  and  in  the  animal-cell,  there  is  a  similar 
relation  of  parts.     Immediately  inside  the  envelope  comea 

•  Ih.  Vol.  i,  p.  241.  t  Kent,  Vol.  i,  p.  .56.  4.-  Ih.  Vol  i,  p.  67. 

{   llie  ElciiieiUs  0/  Comj)aiutiie  Anatomij,  by  T.  11.  Huxley,  pp.  7-9. 


44:2  THE    FACTOKS    OF   OEGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

the  primordial  utricle  in  the  one  case,  and  in  the  other 
case  the  layer  of  active  sarcode.  In  either  case  the 
living  protoplasm,  placed  in  the  position  of  a  lining  to  the 
cuticle  of  the  cell,  is  shielded  from  the  direct  action  of  the 
medium,  and  yet  is  not  beyond  the  reach  of  its  influences. 

Limited,  as  thus  far  drawn,  to  a  certain  common  trait  of 
those  minute  organisms  which  are  mostly  below  the  reach 
of  unaided  vision,  the  foregoing  conclusion  appears  trivial 
enough.  But  it  ceases  to  appear  trivial  on  passing  into 
a  wider  field,  and  observing  the  implications,  direct  and 
indirect,  as  they  concern  plants  and  animals  of  sensible  sizes. 

Popular  expositions  of  science  have  so  far  familiarized 
many  readers  with  a  certain  fundamental  trait  of  living 
things  around,  that  they  have  ceased  to  perceive  how 
marvellous  a  trait  it  is,  and,  until  interpreted  by  the  Theory 
N  of  Evolution,  how  utterly  mysterious.  In  past  times,  the 
conception  of  an  ordinary  plant  or  animal  w^hich  prevailed, 
not  throughout  the  world  at  large  only  but  among  the 
most  instructed,  was  that  it  is  a  single  continuous  entity. 
One  of  these  livings  things  was  unhesitatingly  regarded  as 
being  in  all  respects  a  unit.  Parts  it  might  have,  various 
in  their  sizes,  forms,  and  compositions ;  but  these  were 
components  of  a  whole  which  had  been  from  the  beginning 
in  its  original  nature  a  whole.  Even  to  naturalists  fifty 
years  ago,  the  assertion  that  a  cabbage  or  a  cow,  though 
in  one  sense  a  whole,  is  in  another  sense  a  vast  society 
of  minute  individuals,  severally  living  in  greater  or  less 
degrees,  and  some  of  them  maintaining  their  independent 
lives  unrestrained,  would  have  seemed  an  absurdity.  But 
this  truth  which,  like  so  many  of  the  truths  established  by 
science,  is  contrary  to  that  common  sense  in  Avhich  most 
people  have  so  much  confidence,  has  been  gradually 
growing  clear  since  the  days  when  Leeuwenhoeck  and  his 
contemporaries  began  to  examine  through  lenses  the 
minute  structures  of  common  plants  and  animals.     Each 


THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  443 

improvement  in  the  microscope,  wliile  it  has  widened  our 
knowledge  of  those  minute  forms  of  life  described  above, 
has  revealed  further  evidence  of  the  fact  that  all  the 
larger  forms  of  life  consist  of  units  severally  allied  in 
their  fundamental  traits  to  these  minute  forms  of  life. 
Though,  as  formulated  by  Schwann  and  Schleiden,  the 
coll-doctrinc  has  undergone  qualifications  of  statement ; 
yet  the  qualifications  have  not  been  such  as  to  militate 
against  the  general  proposition  that  organisms  visible  to 
the  naked  eye,  are  severally  compounded  of  invisible 
organisms — using  that  word  in  its  most  comprehensive 
sense.  And  then,  when  the  development  of  any  animal 
is  traced,  it  is  found  that  having  been  primarily  a  nucleated 
cell,  and  having  afterwards  become  by  spontaneous  fission 
a  cluster  of  nucleated  cells,  it  goes  on  through  successive 
stages  to  form  out  of  such  cells,  ever  multiplying  and 
modifjang  in  various  ways,  the  several  tissues  and  organs 
composing  the  adult. 

On  the  hypothesis  of  evolution  this  universal  trait  has  to 
be  accepted  not  as  a  fact  that  is  strange  but  unmeaning. 
It  has  to  be  accepted  as  evidence  that  all  the  visible  forms 
of  life  have  arisen  by  union  of  the  invisible  forms ;  which, 
instead  of  flying  apart  when  they  divided,  remained 
together.  Various  intermediate  stages  are  known.  Among 
plants,  those  of  the  Volvox  type  show  us  the  component  pro- 
tophytes  so  feebly  combined  that  they  severally  carry  on 
their  lives  with  no  appreciable  subordination  to  the  life  of 
the  group.  And  among  animals,  a  parallel  relation  between 
the  lives  of  the  units  and  the  life  of  the  group  is  shown 
us  in  Uroglena  and  Syncrypta.  From  these  first  stages 
upwards,  may  bo  traced  through  successively  higher  types, 
an  increasing  subordination  of  the  units  to  the  aggregate; 
though  still  a  subordination  leaving  to  them  conspicuous 
amounts  of  individual  activity.  Joining  which  facts  with 
the  phenomena  presented  by  the  cell-multiplication  and 
aggregation  of  every  unfolding  germ,  naturalists  are  now 


444  THE    FACTOKS    OP   OKQANIC   EVOLUTION. 

accepting  tlie  conclusion  that  by  this  process  of  composition 
irom.  Protozoa,  were  formed  all  classes  of  the  Metazoa^ — (as 
animals  formed  by  this  compounding  are  now  called)  ;  and 
that  in  a  similar  way  from  Protophyta,  were  formed  all  classes 
of  what  I  suppose  will  be  called  Metaphyta,  though  the 
word  does  not  yet  seem  to  have  become  current. 

And  now  what  is  the  general  meaning  of  these  truths, 
taken  in  connexion  with  th-^  conclusion  reached  in  the 
last  section.  It  is  that  this  universal  trait  of  the  Metazoa 
and  Metaphyta,  must  be  ascribed  to  the  primitive  action 
and  re-action  between  the  organism  and  its  medium.  The 
"^  operation  of  those  forces  which  produced  the  primary 
differentiation  of  outer  from  inner  in  early  minute  masses 
of  protoplasm,  pre-determined  this  universal  cell-structure 
of  all  embryos,  plant  and  animal,  and  the  consequent  cell- 
composition  of  adult  forms  arising  from  them.  How 
unavoidable  is  this  implication,  will  be  seen  on  carrying 
further  an  illustration  already  used — that  of  the  shingle- 
covered  shore,  the  pebbles  on  which,  while  being  in  some 
cases  selected,  have  been  in  all  cases  rounded  and  smoothed. 
Suppose  a  bed  of  such  shingle  to  be,  as  we  often  see 
it,  solidified,  along  with  interfused  material,  into  a  con- 
glomerate. What  in  such  case  must  be  considered  as  the 
chief  trait  of  such  conglomerate ;  or  rather — what  must  we 
regard  as  the  chief  cause  of  its  distinctive  characters  ? 
Evidently  the  action  of  the  sea.  Without  the  breakers,  no 
pebbles  ;  without  the  pebbles,  no  conglomerate.  Similarly 
then,  in  the  absence  of  that  action  of  the  medium  by  which 
was  effected  the  differentiation  of  outer  from  inner  in  those 
microscopic  portions  of  protoplasm  constituting  the  earliest 
and  simplest  animals  and  plants,  there  could  not  have 
existed  this  cardinal  trait  of  composition  which  all  the 
higher  animals  and  plants  show  us 

So  that,  active  as  has  been  the  part  played  by  natural 
'^/     selection,  alike  in   modifying   and    moulding   the  original 
•  A  Treaiiu  on  Comparative  Embryolor/jj,  by  F.  M.  Balfour,  Vol.  ii,  chap,  xiii 


THE  FACTORS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION.         445 

units — largely  as  survival  of  the  fittest  has  been  instru-  \ 
mental  in  furthering  and  controlling  the  combination  of 
these  units  into  visible  organisms,  and  eventually  into  large 
ones ;  yet  we  must  ascribe  to  the  direct  effect  of  the  medium 
on  the  first  forms  of  life,  that  character  of  which  this 
everywhere-operative  factor  has  taken  advantage. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  another  and  more  obvious  attribute  of 
higher  organisms,  for  which  also  there  is  this  same  general 
cause.  Let  us  observe  how,  on  a  higher  platform,  there 
recurs  this  differentiation  of  outer  from  inner — how  this 
primary  trait  in  the  living  units  with  which  life  commences, 
re-appears  as  a  primary  trait  in  those  aggregates  of  such 
units  which  constitute  visible  organisms. 

In  its  simplest  and  most  unmistakable  form,  we  see  this 
in  the  early  changes  of  an  unfolding  ovum  of  primitive 
type.  The  original  fertilized  single  cell,  having  by  spon- 
taneous fission  multiplied  into  a  cluster  of  such  cells,  there 
begins  to  show  itself  a  contrast  between  periphery  and 
centre ;  and  presently  there  is  formed  a  sphere  consisting 
of  a  superficial  layer  unlike  its  contents.  The  first  change, 
then,  is  the  rise  of  a  difference  between  that  outer  part 
which  holds  direct  converse  with  the  surrounding  medium, 
and  that  inclosed  part  which  does  not.  This  primary 
differentiation  in  these  compound  embryos  of  higher 
animals,  parallels  the  primary  differentiation  undergone  by 
the  simplest  living  things. 

Leaving,  for  the  present,  succeeding  changes  of  the 
compound  embryo,  the  significance  of  which  we  shall  have 
to  consider  by-and-by,  let  us  pass  now  to  the  adult  forms 
of  visible  plants  and  animals.  In  them  we  find  cardinal 
traits  which,  after  what  we  have  seen  above,  will  further 
impress  us  with  the  importance  of  the  effects  wrought  on 
the  organism  by  its  medium. 

From  the  thallus  of  a  sea-weed  up  to  the  leaf  of  a  highly 
developed    phaenogam,  we   find,   at  all  stages,  a    .;outrast 


446        THE  FACTORS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION. 

between  the  inner  and  outer  parts  of  these  flattened  masses 
of  tissue.  In  the  higher  Algse  "the  outermost  layers  con- 
sist of  smaller  and  firmer  cells,  while  the  inner  cells  are 
often  very  large^  and  sometimes  extremely  long-;  ""^  and  in 
the  leaves  of  trees  the  epidermal  layer,  besides  diifering  in 
the  sizes  and  shapes  of  its  component  cells  from  the  paren- 
chyma forming  the  inner  substance  of  the  leaf,  is  itself 
differentiated  by  having  a  continuous  cuticle,  and  by  having 
the  outer  walls  of  its  cells  unlike  the  inner  walls.t 
Especially  significant  is  the  structure  of  such  intermediate 
types  as  the  Liverworts.  Beyond  the  differentiation  of  the 
covering  cells  from  the  contained  cells,  and  the  contrast 
between  upper  surface  and  under  surface,  the  frond  of  Mar- 
chantia  polymorpha  clearly  shows  us  the  direct  effect  of 
incident  forces ;  and  shows  us,  too,  how  it  is  involved  with 
the  effect  of  inherited  proclivities.  The  frond  grows  from  a 
flat  disc-shaped  gemma,  the  two  sides  of  which  are  alike. 
Either  side  may  fall  uppermost;  and  then  of  the  develop- 
ing shoot,  the  side  exposed  to  the  light  "  is  under  all 
circumstances  the  upper  side  which  forms  stomata,  the 
dark  side  becomes  the  under  side  which  produces  root-hairs 
and  leafy  processes.^'!  So  that  while  we  Lave  undeniable 
proof  that  the  contrasted  influences  of  the  medium  on  the  two 
sides,  initiate  the  differentiation,  we  have  also  proof  that  the 
completion  of  it  is  determined  by  the  transmitted  structure  of 
the  type ;  since  it  is  impossible  to  ascribe  the  development  of 
stomata  to  the  direct  action  of  air  and  light.  On  turning 
from  foliar  expansions,  to  stems  and  roots,  facts  of  like 
meaning  meet  us.  Speaking  generally  of  epidermal  tissue 
and  inner  tissue,  Sachs  remarks  that  "the  contrast  of  the 
two  is  the  plainer  the  more  the  part  of  the  plant  concerned 
is  exposed  to  air  and  light. "§  Elsewhere,  in  correspondence 
with  this,  it  is  said  that  in  roots  the  cells  of  the  epidermis, 
though  distinguished  by  bearing  hairs,  "are  otherwise  similar 

•  Bachs,  p.  210.  t  IMd.  pp.  83-4.  J  Ibid.  p.  185. 

§  II. d.  '6'J. 


THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  447 

to  those  of  the  fundamental  tissue"  which  they  clothe/^  while 
the  cuticular  covering  is  relatively  thin ;  whereas  in  stems 
the  epidermis  (often  further  differentiated)  is  composed  of 
layers  of  cells  which  are  smaller  and  thicker-walled  :  a 
stronger  contrast  of  structure  corresponding  to  a  stronger 
contrast  of  conditions.  By  way  of  meeting  the  suggestion 
that  these  respective  differences  are  wholly  due  to  the 
natural  selection  of  favourable  variations,  it  will  suffice  if 
I  draw  attention  to  the  unlikeness  between  imbedded  roots 
and  exposed  roots.  While  in  darkness,  and  surrounded  by 
moist  earth,  the  outermost  protective  coats,  even  of  large 
roots,  are  comparatively  thin ;  but  when  the  accidents  of 
gi'owth  entail  permanent  exposure  to  light  and  air,  roots 
acquire  coverings  allied  in  character  to  the  coverings  of 
branches.  That  the  action  of  the  medium  causes  these 
and  converse  changes,  cannot  be  doubted  when  we  find,  on 
the  one  hand,  that  '^  roots  can  become  directly  transformed 
into  leaf-bearing  shoots,"  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  in 
some  plants  certain  "  apparent  roots  are  only  underground 
shoots,"  and  that  nevertheless  '^they  are  similar  to  true 
roots  in  function  and  in  the  formation  of  tissue,  but  have 
no  root-cap,  and,  when  they  come  to  the  light  above 
ground,  continue  to  grow  in  the  manner  of  ordinary  leaf- 
shoots."t  If,  then,  in  highly  developed  plants  inheriting 
pronounced  structures,  this  differentiating  influence  of  thtn 
medium  is  so  marked,  it  must  have  been  all-important  at 
the  outset  while  types  were  undetermined. 

As  with  plants  so  with  animals,  we  find  good  reason  for 
inferring  that  while  the  specialities  of  the  tegumentary 
parts  must  be  ascribed  to  the  natural  selection  of  favourable 
variations,  their  most  general  traits  are  due  to  the  direct 
action  of  surrounding  agencies.  Here  we  come  upon  the 
border  of  those  changes  which  are  ascribable  to  use  and 
disuse.  But  from  this  class  of  changes  we  may  fitly 
exclude  those  in  which  the  parts  concerned  are  wholly  or 
*  Sachs,  p.  83.  t  Iljid.  p.  147. 


MS  THE    FACTORS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

mainly  passive.  A  corn  and  a  blister  will  conveniently 
serve  to  illustrate  the  way  in  whicb.  certain  outer  actions 
initiate  in  the  superficial  tissues,  effects  of  very  marked 
kinds,  which  are  related  neither  to  the  needs  of  the  organ- 
ism nor  to  its  normal  structure.  They  are  neither  adaptive 
changes  nor  changes  towards  completion  of  the  type. 
After  noting  them  we  may  pass  to  allied,  but  still  more 
instructive,  changes.  Continuous  pressure  on  any  portion  of 
the  surface  causes  absorption,  while  intermittent  pressure 
causes  growth :  the  one  impeding  circulation  and  the 
passage  of  plasma  from  the  capillaries  into  the  tissues,  and 
the  other  aiding  both.  There  are  yet  further  mechanically- 
produced  effects.  That  the  general  character  of  the  ribbed 
skin  on  the  under  surfaces  of  the  feet  and  insides  of  the 
hands  is  directly  due  to  friction  and  intermittent  pressure, 
we  have  the  proofs  : — first,  that  the  tracts  most  exposeJ  to 
rough  usage  are  the  most  ribbed ;  second,  that  the  insides 
of  hands  subject  to  unusual  amounts  of  rough  usage,  as 
those  of  sailors,  are  strongly  ribbed  all  over ;  and  third,  that 
in  hands  which  are  very  little  used,  the  parts  commonly 
ribbed  become  quite  smooth.  These  several  kinds  of  evi- 
dence, however,  full  of  meaning  as  they  are,  I  give  simply 
to  prepare  the  way  for  evidence  of  a  much  more  conclu- 
eive  kind. 

Where  a  wide  ulcer  has  eaten  away  the  deep-seated  layer 
out  of  which  the  epidermis  grows,  or  where  this  layer  has 
been  destroyed  by  an  extensive  burn,  the  process  of  healing 
is  very  significant.  From  the  subjacent  tissues,  which  in  the 
normal  order  have  no  concern  with  outward  growth,  there 
is  produced  a  new  skin,  or  rather  a  pro-skin;  for  this 
substituted  outward-growing  layer  contains  no  hair-follicles 
or  other  specialities  of  the  original  one.  Nevertheless,  it 
is  like  the  original  one  in  so  far  that  it  is  a  continually 
renewed  protective  covering.  Doubtless  it  may  be  con- 
tended that  this  make-shift  skin  results  from  the  inherited 
proclivity  of  the   type — the   tendency  to   complete  afresh 


THE    FACTORS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 


449 


the  structure  of  the  species  when  injured.  We  cannot, 
however,  ignore  the  immediate  influence  of  the  medium,  on 
recalling  the  facts  above  named,  or  on  remembering  the 
further  fact  that  an  inflamed  surface  of  skin,  when  not 
sheltered  from  the  air,  will  throw  out  a  film  of  coagulable 
lymph.  But  that  the  direct  action  of  the  medium  is  a  chief 
factor  we  are  clearly  shown  by  another  case.  Accident  or 
disease  occasionally  causes  permanent  eversion,  or  protru- 
sion, of  mucous  membrane.  After  a  period  of  irritability, 
great  at  first  but  decreasing  as  the  change  advances,  this 
membrane  assumes  the  general  character  of  ordinary  skin. 
Nor  is  this  all :  its  microscopic  structure  changes.  Where 
it  is  a  mucous  membrane  of  the  kind  covered  by  cylinder- 
epithelium,  the  cylinders  gradually  shorten,  becoming  finally 
flat,  and  there  results  a  squamous  epithelium :  there  is  a 
near  approach  in  minute  composition  to  epidermis.  Here  a 
tendency  towards  completion  of  the  type  cannot  be  alleged  ; 
for  there  is,  contrariwise,  divergence  from  the  type.  The 
effect  of  the  medium  is  so  great  that,  in  a  short  time,  it 
overcomes  the  inherited  proclivity  and  produces  a  struc- 
ture of  opposite  kind  to  the  normal  one. 

With  but  little  break  we  come  here  upon  a  significant 
analogy,  parallel  to  an  analogy  already  described.  As 
was  pointed  out,  an  inorganic  body  that  is  modifiable  by 
its  medium,  acquires,  after  a  time,  an  outer  coat  which 
has  already  undergone  such  change  as  surrounding  agencies 
can  effect ;  has  a  contained  mass  which  is  as  yet  unchanged, 
because  unreached;  and  has  a  surface  between  the  two 
where  change  is  going  on — a  region  of  activity.  And  we 
saw  that  alike  in  the  vegetal  cell  and  the  animal  cell  there 
exist  analogous  distributions  :  of  course  with  the  difference 
that  the  innermost  part  is  not  inert.  Now  we  have  to  note 
that  in  those  aggregates  of  cells  constituting  the  Metaphyta 
and  Metazoa,  analogous  distributions  also  exist.  In  plants 
they  are  of  course  not  to  be  looked  for  in  leaves  and  other 
deciduous  portions,  but  only  in  portions  of  long  duration^ 


450  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

stems  and  branches.  Naturally^  too,  we  need  not.  expect 
tliem  in  plants  havino-  modes  of  growth,  which  early  produce 
an  outer  practically  dead  part,  that  effectually  shields  the 
inner  actively  living  part  of  the  stem  from  the  influence 
of  the  medium — long-lived  acrogens  such  as  tree-ferns  and 
long-lived  endogens  such  as  palms.  But  in  the  highest- 
plants,  exogens,  which  have  the  actively  living  part  of 
their  stems  within  reach  of  environing  agencies,  we  find 
this  part, — the  cambium  layer, — is  one  from  which  there 
is  a  growth  inwards  forming  wood,  and  a  growth  outwards 
forming  bark :  there  is  an  increasingly  thick  covering  (where 
it  does  not  scale  off)  of  tissue  changed  by  the  medium, 
and  inside  this  a  film  of  highest  vitality.  In  so  far  as 
concerns  the  present  argument,  it  is  the  same  with  the 
Metar.oa,  or  at  least  all  of  them  which  have  developed 
organizations.  The  outer  skin  grows  up  from  a  limiting 
plane,  or  layer,  a  little  distance  below  the  surface— a  place 
of  predominant  vital  activity.  Here  perpetually  arise  new 
cells,  which,  as  they  develop,  are  thrust  outwards  and 
form  the  epidermis :  flattening  and  drying  up  as  they 
approach  the  surface,  whence,  having  for  a  time  served 
to  shield  the  parts  below,  they  finally  scale  off  and  leave 
younger  ones  to  take  their  places.  This  still  undifferentia- 
ted tissue  forming  the  base  of  the  epidermis,  and  existing 
also  as  a  source  of  renewal  in  internal  organs,  is  the 
essentially  living  substance ;  and  facts  above  given  imply 
that  it  was  the  action  of  the  medium  on  this  essentially 
living  substance,  which,  during  early  stages  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Metazoa,  initiated  that  protective  envelope  which 
presently  became  an  inherited  structure — a  structure  which, 
though  now  mainly  inherited,  still  continues  to  be  modifi- 
able by  its  initiator. 

Fully  to  perceive  the  way  in  which  these  evidences 
compel  us  to  recognize  the  influence  of  the  medium  as  a 
primordial  factor,  we  need  but  conceive  them  as  interpreted 
without  it.     Suppose,  for  instance,  we  say  that  the  structure 


THE    FACTORS    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 


451 


of  tlie  epidermis  is  wholly  determined  by  the  natural  selec- 
tion of  favourable  variations ;  what  must  be  the  position 
taken  in  presence  of  the  fact  above  named,  that  when 
mucous  membrane  is  exposed  to  the  air  its  cell-structure 
changes  into  the  cell-structure  of  skin  ?  The  position  taken 
must  be  this  : — Though  mucous  membrane  in  a  highly- 
evolved  individual  organism,  thus  shows  the  powerful  effect 
of  the  medium  on  its  surface ;  yet  we  must  not  suppose  that 
the  medium  had  the  effect  of  producing  such  a  cell-struc- 
ture on  the  surfaces  of  primitive  forms,  undifferentiated 
though  they  were;  or,  if  we  suppose  that  such  an  effect 
was  produced  on  them,  we  must  not  suppose  that  it  was 
inhtritable.  Contrariwise,  we  must  suppose  that  such  effect 
cf  the  medium  either  was  not  wrought  at  all,  or  that  it 
was  evanescent :  though  repeated  through  millions  upon 
millions  of  generations  it  left  no  traces.  And  we  must 
conclude  that  this  skin-structure  arose  only  in  conse- 
quence of  spontaneous  variations  not  physically  initiated 
(though  like  those  physically  initiated)  which  natural  selec- 
tion laid  hold  of  and  increased.  Does  any  one  think  this  a 
tenable  position? 

And  now  we  approach  the  last  and  chief  series  of 
morphological  phenomena  which  must  be  ascribed  to  the 
direct  action  of  environing  matters  and  forces.  These  are 
presented  to  us  when  we  study  the  early  stages  in  the 
development  of  the  embryos  of  the  Metazoa  in  general. 

We  will  set  out  with  the  fact  already  noted  in  passing, 
that  after  repeated  spontaneous  fissions  have  changed  the 
original  fertilized  germ-cell  into  that  cluster  of  cells  which 
forms  a  gemmule  or  a  primitive  ovum,  the  first  contrast  which 
arises  is  between  the  peripheral  parts  and  the  central  parts. 
Where,  as  with  lower  creatures  which  do  not  lay  up  large 
Btorcs  of  nutriment  with  the  germs  of  their  offspring,  the 
inner  mass  is  inconsiderable,  the  outer  layer  of  cells,  which 
nro  pre?ently  made  quite  small  by  repeated  subdivisions. 


452        THE  FACTORS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION. 

forms  a  membrane  extending  over  the  wliole  surface — the 
blastoderm.  The  next  stage  of  development,  which  ends 
in  this  covering  layer  becoming  double,  is  reached  in  two 
ways — byinvagination  and  by  delamination;  but  which  is  the 
original  way  and  which  the  abridged  way,  is  not  quite  cer- 
tain. Of  invagination,  multitudinously  exemplified  in  the 
lowest  types,  Mr.  Balfour  says : — "  On  purely  a  priori  grounds 
there  is  in  my  opinion  more  to  be  said  for  invagination 
than  for  any  other  view";''^  and,  for  present  purposes,  it 
will  suffice  if  we  limit  ourselves  to  this :  making  its  nature 
clear  to  the  general  reader  by  a  simple  illustration. 

Take  a  small  india-rubber  ball — not  of  the  inflated  kind, 
nor  of  the  solid  kind,  but  of  the  kind  about  an  inch  or  so 
in  diameter  with  a  small  hole  through  which,  under  pressure, 
the  air  escapes.  Suppose  that  instead  of  consisting  of  india- 
rubber  its  wall  consists  of  small  cells  made  polyhedral  in 
form  by  mutual  pressure,  and  united  together.  This  will 
represent  the  blastoderm.  Now  with  the  finger,  thrust  in 
one  side  of  the  ball  until  it  touches  the  other :  so  making  a 
cup.  This  action  will  stand  for  the  process  of  invagination. 
Imagine  that  by  continuance  of  it,  the  hemispherical  cup 
becomes  very  much  deepened  and  the  opening  narrowed, 
until  the  cup  becomes  a  sac,  of  which  the  introverted  wall 
is  everywhere  in  contact  with  the  outer  wall.  This  will 
represent  the  two-layered  "gastrula" — the  simplest 
ancestral  form  of  the  Metazoa :  a  form  which  is  permanently 
represented  in  some  of  the  lowest  types ;  for  it  needs  but 
tentacles  round  the  mouth  of  the  sac,  to  produce  a  common 
hydra.  Here  the  fact  which  it  chiefly  concerns  us  to 
remark,  is  that  of  these  two  layers  the  outer,  called  in 
embryological  language  the  epiblast,  continues  to  carry  on 
direct  converse  with  the  forces  and  matters  in  the  environ- 
ment ;  while  the  inner,  called  the  hypoblast,  comes  in  contact 


■   A  Treatise  on  Comparative  Emhryoloj'j.     Bj  Fiancis  M.  Balfour,  LL.D, 
F.E.8.    Vol.  ii,  p.  343  (second  editioa). 


THE    FACTORS    OP    ORGANIC   EVOLUTION.  453 

Witli  sucli  only  of  these  matters  as  are  put  into  the  food- 
cavity  which  it  lines.  We  have  further  to  note  that  in  the 
embryos  of  Metazoa  at  all  advanced  in  organization,  there 
arises  between  these  two  layers  a  third — the  mesoblast. 
The  origin  of  this  is  seen  in  types  where  the  developmental 
process  is  not  obscured  by  the  presence  of  a  large  food- 
yolk.  While  the  above-described  introversion  is  taking 
place,  and  before  the  inner  surfaces  of  the  resulting  epiblast 
and  hypoblast  have  come  into  contact,  cells,  or  amoeboid 
units  equivalent  to  them,  are  budded  off  from  one  or  both 
of  these  inner  surfaces,  or  some  part  of  one  or  other ;  and 
these  form  a  layer  which  eventually  lies  between  the  other 
two — a  layer  which,  as  this  mode  of  formation  implies, 
never  has  any  converse  with  the  surrounding  medium  and 
its  contents,  or  with  the  nutritive  bodies  taken  in  from  it. 
The  striking  facts  to  which  this  description  is  a  necessary 
introduction,  may  now  be  stated.  From  the  outer  layer,  or 
epiblast,  are  developed  the  permanent  epidermis  and  its 
out-growths,  the  nervous  system,  and  the  organs  of  sense. 
From  the  introverted  layer,  or  hypoblast,  are  developed 
the  alimentary  canal  and  those  parts  of  its  appended 
organs,  liver,  pancreas,  &c.,  which  are  concerned  in  deliver- 
ing their  secretions  into  the  alimentary  canal,  as  well  as  the 
linings  of  those  ramifying  tubes  in  the  lungs  which  convey 
air  to  the  places  where  gaseous  exchange  is  effected.  And 
from  the  mesoblast  originate  the  bones,  the  muscles,  the 
heart  and  blood-vessels,  and  the  lymphatics,  together  with 
such  parts  of  various  internal  organs  as  are  most  remotely 
concerned  with  the  outer  world.  Minor  qualifications  being 
admitted,  there  remain  the  broad  general  facts,  that  out  of 
that  part  of  the  external  layer  which  remains  permanently 
external,  are  developed  all  the  structures  which  carry  on 
intercourse  with  the  medium  and  its  contents,  active  and 
passive;  out  of  the  introverted  part  of  this  external  layer, 
are  developed  the  structures  which  carry  on  intercourse 
with  the  quasi-external  substances  that  are  taken  into  the 


454        THE  FACTORS  OP  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION. 

interior — solid  food,  water,  and  air;  wliile  out  of  the 
mesoblast  are  developed  structures  wliicli  have  never  had, 
from  first  to  last,  any  intercourse  v^^ith  the  environment. 
Let  us  contemplate  these  general  facts. 

Wlio  would  have  imagined  that  the  nervous  system  is  a 
modified  portion  of  the  primitive  epidermis?  In  the  absence 
of  proofs  furnished  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  embryo- 
logists  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years,  who  would 
have  believed  that  the  brain  arises  from  an  infolded 
tract  of  the  outer  skin,  which,  sinking  down  beneath  the 
surface,  becomes  imbedded  in  other  tissues  and  eventually 
surrounded  b}?"  a  bony  case  ?  Yet  the  human  nervous 
system  in  common  with  the  nervous  systems  of  lower 
animals  is  thus  originated.  In  the  words  of  Mr.  Balfour, 
early  embryological  changes  imply  that — 

"  the  functions  of  the  central  nervous  system,  which  were  orij^inally  taken 
by  the  whole  skin,  became  gradually  concentrated  in  a  special  part  of  the 
skin  which  was  step  by  step  removed  from  the  surface,  and  has  finally 
become  in  the  hi;4her  types  a  well-defined  organ  imbedded  in  the  subdermal 
tissues.  .  .  .  The  embryological  evidence  shows  that  the  ganglion-cells  of 
the  central  part  of  the  nervous  system  are  originally  derived  from  the  simple 
undi.ferentiated  epithelial  cells  of  the  surface  of  the  body."* 
Less  startling  perhaps,  though  still  startling  enough,  is  the 
fact  that  the  eye  is  evolved  out  of  a  portion  of  the  skin; 
and  that  while  the  crystalline  lens  and  its  surroundings 
thus  originate,  the  "  percipient  portions  of  the  organs 
of  special  sense,  especially  of  optic  organs,  are  often 
formed  from  the  same  part  of  the  primitive  epidermis" 
which  forms  the  central  nervous  system,  t  Similarly  is  it 
with  the  organs  for  smelling  and  hearing.  These,  too, 
begin  as  sacs  formed  by  infoldings  of  the  epidermis;  and 
while  their  parts  are  developing  they  are  joined  from 
within  by  nervous  structures  which  were  themselves  epi- 
dermic in  origin.  How  are  we  to  interpret  these  strange 
transformations  ?  Observing,  as  we  pass,  how  absurd  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  special-creationist,  would  appear 

•  Balfour,  I.e.  Vol.  ii,  400-1.  f  Balfour,  I.e.  Vol.  ii,  p.  401. 


THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  455 

Buch  a  filiation  of  structures,  and  such  a  round-about 
mode  of  embryonic  development,  we  have  here  to  remark 
that  the  process  is  not  one  to  have  been  anticipated  as 
a  result  of  natural  selection.  After  numbers  of  spontaneous 
variations  had  occurred,  as  the  hypothesis  implies,  in 
useless  ways,  the  variation  which  primarily  initiated  a 
nervous  centre  might  reasonably  have  been  expected  to 
occur  in  some  internal  part  where  it  would  be  fitly 
located.  Its  initiation  in  a  dangerous  place  and  subsequent 
migration  to  a  safe  place,  would  be  incomprehensible.  Not 
so  if  we  bear  in  mind  the  cardinal  truth  above  set  forth, 
that  the  structures  for  holding  converse  with  the  medium 
and  its  contents,  arise  in  that  completely  superficial  part  "^ 
which  is  directly  affected  by  the  medium  and  its  contents ; 
and  if  we  draw  the  inference  that  the  external  actions 
themselves  initiate  the  structures.  These  once  commenced, 
and  furthered  by  natural  selection  where  favourable  to  life, 
would  form  the  first  term  of  a  series  ending  in  developed 
sense  organs  and  a  developed  nervous  system."^ 

Though  it  would  enforce  the  argument,  I  must,  for 
brevity's  sake,  pass  over  the  analogous  evolution  of  that 
introverted  layer,  or  hypoblast,  out  of  which  the  alimentary 
canal  and  attached  organs  arise.  It  will  suffice  to  emphasize 
the  fact  that  having  been  originally  external,  this  layer 
continues  in  its  developed  form  to  have  a  quasi-externality, 
alike  in  its  digesting  part  and  in  its  respiratory  part;  since 
it  continues  to  deal  with  matters  alien  to  the  organism. 
I  must  also  refrain  from  dwelling  at  length  on  the  fact 
already  adverted  to,  that  the  intermediate  derived  layer, 
or  mesoblast,  which  was  at  the  outset  completely  internal, 
originates  those  structures  which  ever  remain  completely 
internal,  and  have  no  communication  with  the  environment 
save  through  the  structures  developed  from  the  other  two: 
an  antithesis  which  has  great  significance. 

*  For  a  general   delineation  of  the  changes  by  which  the  development 
is  effected,  see  Balfour,  I.e.  Vol.  ii,  pp.  401-4. 

80  V 


456  THE    FACTORS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

Here,  instead  of  dwelliiT:^  on  these  details,  it  will  ho 
better  to  draw  attention  to  the  most  general  aspect  of  the 
facts.  Whatever  may  be  the  course  of  subsequent  change."., 
the  first  change  is  the  formation  of  a  superficial  layer  or 
blastoderm ;  and  by  whatever  series  of  transformations 
the  adult  structure  is  reached,  it  is  from  the  blastoderm 
that  all  the  organs  forming  the  adult  originate.  Why  this 
marvellous  fact  ? 

Meaning  is  given  to  it  if  we  go  back  to  the  first  stage  in 
which  Protozoa,  having  by  repeated  fissions  formed  a  clus- 
ter, then  arranged  themselves  into  a  hollow  sphere,  as  do 
the  protophytes  forming  a  Volvox.  Originally  alike  all  over 
its  surface,  the  hollow  sphere  of  ciliated  units  thus  formed, 
would,  if  not  quite  spherical,  assume  a  constant  attitude 
when  moving  through  the  water ;  and  hence  one  part  of 
the  spheroid  would  more  frequently  than  the  rest  come  in 
contact  with  nutritive  matters  to  be  taken  in.  A  division 
of  labour  resulting  from  such  a  variation  being  advanta- 
geous, and  tending  therefore  to  increase  in  descendants, 
would  end  in  a  differentiation  like  that  shown  in  the  gem- 
mules  of  various  low  types  of  Metazoa,  which,  ovate  in  shape, 
are  ciliated  over  one  part  of  the  surface  only.  There  would 
arise  a  form  in  which  the  cilium-bearing  units  effected  loco- 
motion and  aeration;  while  on  the  others,  assuming  an 
amoeba-like  character,  devolved  the  function  of  absorbing 
food  :  a  primordial  specialization  variously  indicated  by 
evidence."^  Just  noting  that  an  ancestral  origin  of  this 
kind  is  implied  by  the  fact  that  in  low  types  of  Metazoa 
a  hollow  sphere  of  cells  is  the  form  first  assumed  by  the 
unfolding  embryo,  I  draw  attention  to  the  point  here  of  chief 
interest;  namely  that  the  primary  differentiation  of  this 
hollow  sphere  is  in  such  case  determined  by  a  difference 
in  the  converse  of  its  parts  with  the  medium  and  its 
contents ;  and  that  the  subsequent  invagination  arises  by  a 
continuance  of  this  differential  converse. 

•  See  Balfour,  Vol.  i,  149  and  Vol.  ii,  313-4. 


THE    FACTOr.S    OF   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 


457 


Even  neglecting  this  first  stage  and  commencing  witli  tl^e 
next,  in  which  a  "  gastrula  "  has  been  produced  by  the  per- 
manent introversion  of  one  portion  of  the  surface  of  the 
hollov?  sphere,  it  will  suffice  if  we  consider  what  must  there- 
after have  happened.  That  which  continued  to  be  the  outer 
surface  was  the  part  which  from  time  to  time  touched 
quiescent  masses  and  occasionally  received  the  collisions 
consequent  on  its  own  motions  or  the  motions  of  other 
things.  It  was  the  part  to  receive  the  sound-vibrations 
occasionally  propagated  through  the  water ;  the  part  to  be 
affected  more  strongly  than  any  other  by  those  variations 
in  the  amounts  of  light  caused  by  the  passing  of  small 
bodies  close  to  it ;  and  the  part  which  met  those  diffused 
molecules  constituting  odours.  That  is  to  say,  from  the  v^ 
beginning  the  surface  was  the  part  on  which  there  fell  the 
various  influences  pervading  the  environment,  the  part  by 
which  there  was  received  those  impressions  from  the  en- 
vironment serving  for  the  guidance  of  actions,  and  the  part 
which  had  to  bear  the  mechanical  re-actions  consequent 
upon  such  actions.  Necessarily,  therefore,  the  surface  was 
the  part  in  which  were  initiated  the  various  instrumentali- 
ties for  carrying  on  intercourse  with  the  environment.  To 
suppose  otherwise  is  to  suppose  that  such  instrumentalities 
arose  internally  where  they  could  neither  be  operated  on  by 
surrounding  agencies  nor  operate  on  them, — where  the 
differentiating  forces  did  not  come  into  play,  and  the  differ- 
entiated structures  had  nothing  to  do ;  and  it  is  to  suppose 
that  meanwhile  the  parts  directly  exposed  to  the  differentia- 
ting forces  remained  unchanged.  Clearly,  then,  organization 
could  not  but  begin  on  the  surface;  and  having  thus  begun, 
its  subsequent  course  could  not  but  be  determined  by  its 
superficial  origin.  And  hence  these  remarkable  facts  show- 
ing us  that  individual  evolution  is  accomplished  by  succes- 
sive in-foldings  and  in-growings.  Doubtless  natural  selection 
Boon  came  into  action,  as,  for  example,  in  the  removal  of  the 
rudimentary  nervous  centres  from  the  surface;  since  an 


458  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

individual  in  whioli  they  were  a  little  more  deeply  seated 
would  be  less  likely  to  be  incapacitated  by  injury  of  tbem. 
And  so  in  multitudinous  otter  ways.  But  nevertheless,  aa 
we  here  see,  natural  selection  could  operate  only  under 
subjection.  It  could  do  no  more  than  take  advantage  of 
those  structural  changes  which  the  medium  and  its  con- 
tents initiated. 

See,  then,  how  large  has  been  the  part  played  by  this 
primordial  factor.  Had  it  done  no  more  than  give  to 
Protozoa  and  Protophyta  that  cell-form  which  characterizes 
them — had  it  done  no  more  than  entail  the  cellular  com- 
position which  is  so  remarkable  a  trait  of  Metazoa  and 
Metafhyta — had  it  done  no  more  than  cause  the  repetition 
in  all  visible  animals  and  plants  of  that  primary  differen- 
tiation of  outer  from  inner  which  it  first  wrought  in 
animals  and  plants  invisible  to  the  naked  eye;  it  would 
have  done  much  towards  giving  to  organisms  of  all  kinds 
certain  leading  traits.  But  it  has  done  more  than  this. 
By  causing  the  first  differentiations  of  those  clusters  of 
units  out  of  which  visible  animals  in  general  arose,  it 
fixed  the  starting  place  for  organization,  and  therefore 
determined  the  course  of  organization;  and,  doing  this,  gave 
indelible  traits  to  embryonic  transformations  and  to  adult 
structures. 

Though  mainly  carried  on  after  the  inductive  method,  the 
argument  at  the  close  of  the  foregoing  section  has  passed 
into  the  deductive.  Here  let  us  follow  for  a  space  the 
deductive  method  pure  and  simple.  Doubtless  in  biology 
a  priori  reasoning  is  dangerous;  but  there  can  be  no 
danger  in  considering  whether  its  results  coincide  with 
those  reached  by  reasoning  a,  posteriori. 

Biologists  in  general  agree  that  in  the  present  state  of 
the  world,  no  such  thing  happens  as  the  rise  of  a  living 
creature  out  of  non-living  matter.  They  do  not  deny, 
Ivnvever,  that  at  a  remote  period  in  the  past,  when  the  ^ 


THE    PACTOrvS    OP    ORGANIC    EVOLDTIOiiT.  459 

temperature  of  the  Earth's  surface  was  much  higher  than 
at  present^  and  other  jiliysical  conditions  were  unlike  those 
we  know,  inorganic  matter,  through  successive  coraplica- 
tions,  gave  origin  to  organic  matter.  So  many  substances 
once  supposed  to  belong  exclusively  to  living  bodies,  have 
now  been  formed  artificially,  that  men  of  science  scarcely 
question  the  conclusion  that  there  are  conditions  under 
which,  by  yet  another  step  of  composition,  quaternary  com- 
pounds of  lower  types  pass  into  those  of  highest  types. 
That  there  once  took  place  gradual  divergence  of  the  ^ 
organic  from  the  inorganic,  is,  indeed,  a  necessary  implica- 
tion of  the  hypothesis  of  Evolution,  taken  as  a  whole ;  and 
if  we  accept  it  as  a  whole,  we  must  put  to  ourselves  the 
question — What  were  the  early  stages  of  progress  which 
followed,  after  the  most  complex  form  of  matter  had  arisen 
out  of  forms  of  matter  a  degree  less  complex  ? 

At  first,  protoplasm  could  have  had  no  proclivities  to  one 
or  other  arrangement  of  parts;  unless,  indeed,  a  purely 
mechanical  proclivity  towards  a  spherical  form  when 
suspended  in  a  liquid.  At  the  outset  it  must  have  been 
passive.  In  respect  of  its  passivity,  primitive  organic 
matter  must  have  been  like  inorganic  matter.  No  such 
thing  as  spontaneous  variation  could  have  occurred  in 
it;  for  variation  implies  some  habitual  course  of  change 
from  which  it  is  a  divergence,  and  is  therefore  excluded 
where  there  is  no  habitual  course  of  change.  In  the 
absence  of  that  cyclical  series  of  metamorphoses  which 
even  the  simplest  living  thing  now  shows  us,  as  a  result  of 
lis  inherited  constitution,  there  could  be  no  point  d'appuiior 
natural  selection.     How,  then,  did  organic  evolution  begin  ? 

If  a  primitive  mass  of  organic  matter  was  like  a  mass 
of  inorganic  matter  in  respect  of  its  passivity,  and  differed 
only  in  respect  of  its  greater  changeableness;  then  we 
must  infer  that  its  first  changes  conformed  to  the  same 
general  law  as  do  the  changes  of  an  inorganic  mass. 
Tho  instability  of  the  homogeneous  is  a  universal  principle* 


460  THE    FACTORS    OF   OKGANIC    EVOLUTK  V. 

In  all  cases  the  homogeneous  tends  to  pass  into  the  hetero- 
geneous, and  the  less  hetv^rog-eneons  into  the  more  hetero- 
geneous. In  the  primordial  units  of  protoplasm,  then,  the 
step  with  which  evolution  commenced  must  have  been  the 
passage  from  a  state  of  complete  likeness  throughout  the 
mass  to  a  state  in  which  there  existed  some  unlikeness. 
Further,  the  cause  of  this  step  in  one  of  these  portions  of 
organic  matter,  as  in  any  portion  of  inorganic  matter,  must 
have  been  the  difEerent  exposure  of  its  parts  to  incident 
forces.  What  incident  forces  ?  Those  of  its  medium  or 
environment.  Which  were  the  parts  thus  differently 
exposed  ?  Necessarily  the  outside  and  the  inside.  In- 
evitably, then,  alike  in  the  organic  aggregate  and  the 
inorganic  aggregate  (supposing  it  to  have  coherence  enough 
to  maintain  constant  relative  positions  among  its  parts),  the 
first  fall  from  homogeneity  to  heterogeneity  must  always 
have  been  the  differentiation  of  the  external  surface  from 
the  internal  contents.  No  matter  whether  the  modifica- 
tion was  physical  or  chemical,  one  of  composition  or  of 
decomposition,  it  comes  within  the  same  generalization. 
The  direct  action  of  the  medium  was  the  primordial  factor 
of  organic  evolution. 

And  now,  finally,  let  us  look  at  the  factors  in  their 
ensemble,  and  consider  the  respective  parts  they  play : 
observing,  especially,  the  ways  in  which,  at  successive 
stages,  they  severally  give  place  one  to  another  in  degree  of 
importance. 

Acting  alone,  the  primordial  factor  must  have  initiated 
the  primary  diflerentiation  in  all  units  of  protoplasm  alike. 
I  say  alike,  but  I  must  forthwith  qualify  the  word.  For 
since  surrounding  influences,  physical  and  chemical,  could 
not  be  absolutely  the  same  in  all  places,  especially  when 
the  first  rudiments  of  living  things  had  spread  over  a 
considerable  area,  there  necessarily  arose  small  contrasts 
betwueu  the  degrees  and  kinds  of  superficial  differentiation 


THE    FACTORS    OP   OlIGANIC    EVOLUTION.  401 

effected.  As  soon  as  these  became  decided,  natural  selec- 
tion came  into  play;  for  inevitably  the  unlikeuesses 
produced  among  the  units  had  effects  on  their  lives  :  there 
was  survival  of  some  among  the  modified  forms  rather 
than  others.  Utterly  in  the  dark  though  we  are  respect- 
ing the  causes  which  set  up  that  process  of  fission 
everywhere  occurring  among  the  minutest  forms  of  life, 
we  must  infer  that,  when  established,  it  furthered  the 
spread  of  those  which  were  most  favourably  differentiated 
by  the  medium.  Though  natural  selection  must  have 
become  increasingly  active  when  once  it  had  got  a  start ; 
yet  the  differentiating  action  of  the  medium  never  ceased 
to  be  a  co-operator  in  the  development  of  these  first 
animals  and  plants.  Again  taking  the  lead  as  there  arose 
the  composite  forms  of  animals  ard  plants,  and  again 
losing  the  lead  with  that  advancing  differentiation  of 
these  higher  types  which  gave  more  scope  to  natural 
selection,  it  nevertheless  continued,  and  must  ever  con- 
tinue, to  be  a  cause,  both  direct  and  indirect,  of 
modifications  in  structure. 

Along  with  that  remarkable  process  which,  beginning  in 
minute  forms  with  what  is  called  conjugation,  developed 
into  sexual  generation,  there  came  into  play  causes  of 
frequent  and  marked  fortuitous  variations.  The  mixtures 
of  constitutional  proclivities  made  more  or  less  unlike  by 
unlikenesses  of  physical  conditions,  inevitably  led  to  occa- 
sional concurrences  of  forces  producing  deviations  of 
structure.  These  were  of  course  mostly  suppressed,  but 
sometimes  increased,  by  survival  of  the  fittest.  When,  along 
with  the  growing  multiplication  in  forms  of  life,  conflict 
and  competition  became  continually  more  active,  fortuitous 
variations  of  structure  of  no  account  in  the  converse  with 
the  medium,  became  of  much  account  in  the  struggle  with 
enemies  and  competitors ;  and  natural  selection  of  such 
variations  became  the  predominant  factor.  Especially 
throughout    the    phmt-world   its  action    appears    to   have 


462  THE    FACTORS    OP   ORGANIC    EVOLUTIOH. 

been  immensely  the  most  important ;  and  througliout  that 
large  part  of  the  aiiiniul  world  characterized  by  relative 
inactivity,  the  survival  of  individuals  that  had  varied  in 
favourable  ways,  must  all  along  have  been  the  chief  cause 
of  the  divergence  of  species  and  the  occasional  production 
of  higher  ones. 

But  gradually  with  that  increase  of  activity  which  we 
see  on  ascending  to  successively  higher  grades  of  animals, 
and  especially  with  that  increased  complexity  of  life 
which  we  also  see,  there  came  more  and  more  into  play  as 
a  factor,  the  inheritance  of  those  modifications  of  structure 
caused  by  modifications  of  function.  Eventually,  among 
creatures  of  high  organization,  this  factor  became  an 
important  one;  and  I  think  there  is  reason  to  conclude 
that,  m  the  case  of  the  highest  of  creatures,  civilized  men, 
amonsr  whom  the  kinds  of  variation  which  affect  survival 
are  too  multitudinous  to  permit  easy  selection  of  any  one, 
and  among  whom  survival  of  the  fittest  is  greatly  inter- 
fered with,  it  has  become  the  chief  factor :  such  aid  as 
survival  of  the  fittest  gives,  being  usually  limited  to  the  pre- 
servation of  those  in  whom  the  totality  of  the  faculties  has 
been  most  favourably  moulded  by  functional  changes. 

Of  course  this  sketch  of  the  relations  among  the  factors 
must  be  taken  as  in  large  measure  a  speculation.  We  are 
now  too  far  removed  from  the  beginnings  of  life  to  obtain 
data  for  anything  more  than  tentative  conclusions  respecting 
its  earliest  stages ;  especially  in  the  absence  of  any  clue  to 
the  mode  in  which  multiplication,  first  agamogenetic  and 
then  gamogenetic,  was  initiated.  But  it  has  seemed  to  me 
not  amiss  to  present  this  general  conception,  by  way  of 
showing  how  the  deductive  interpretation  harmonizes  with, 
the  several  inferences  reached  by  induction. 

In  his  article  on  Evolution  in  the  Encyclopssdia  Britan* 
nica,  Professor  Huxley  writes  as  follows  : — 

•*  How  far  *  natural   selection  *   suffices   for  the   production    of    species 


THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION.  4C3 

remains  to  be  seen.    Few  can  doubt  that,  if  not  the  whole  cause,  it  is  a  very 
important  factor  in  that  operation     .     .     . 

On  the  evidence  of  palteontology,  the  evolution  of  many  existing  forms  of 
animal  life  from  their  predecessors  is  no  longer  an  hypothesis,  but  au 
historical  fact ;  it  is  only  the  nature  of  the  physiological  factors  to  which 
that  evolution  is  due  -which  is  still  open  to  discussion." 
With  these  passages  I  may  fitly  join  a  remark  made  in  the 
admirable  address  Prof.  Huxley  delivered  before  unveiling 
the  statue  of  Mr.  Darwin  in  the  Museum  at  South  Ken- 
sington. Deprecating  the  supposition  that  an  authoritative 
sanction  was  given  by  the  ceremony  to  the  current  ideas 
concerning  organic  evolution^  he  said  that  "  science  commits 
suicide  when  it  adopts  a  creed.'' 

Along  with  larger  motives,  one  motive  which  has  joined 
in  prompting  the  foregoing  articles,  has  been  the  desire  to 
point  out  that  already  among  biologists,  the  beliefs  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  species  have  assumed  too  much  the 
character  of  a  creed ;  and  that  while  becoming  settled  they 
have  been  narrowed.  So  far  from  further  broadening  that 
broader  view  which  Mr.  Darwin  reached  as  he  grew  older, 
his  followers  appear  to  have  retrograded  towards  a  more 
restricted  view  than  he  ever  expressed.  Thus  there  seems 
occasion  for  recognizing  the  warning  uttered  by  Prof. 
Huxley,  as  not  uncalled  for. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  arguments  and  conclu- 
sions set  forth  in  this  article  and  the  preceding  one,  they 
will  perhaps  serve  to  show  that  it  is  as  yet  far  too  soon  to 
close  the  inquiry  concerning  the  causes  of  organic  evolution. 


Note. 

[^The  following  passages  formed  part  of  a  preface  to  the  small 

volume  in  witick   the  Joregohig  cus-ay   re-a[ipearcd.      I 

append   them  here  as  they   cannut   nuw  be  cviiveuientUj 

pr(fiJC(:d.~\ 

Though  the  direct  bearings  of  the  arguments  contained 

in  this  iiissay  are  biological,  the  argument  contained  in  ita 


464         THE  FACTOCS  OF  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION. 

first  half  lias  indirect  bearings  upon  Psycliology,  Ethics, 
and  Sociology.  My  belief  in  the  profound  importance  of 
these  indirect  bearings,  was  originally  a  chief  prompter  to 
set  forth  the  argument ;  and  it  now  prompts  me  to  re-issue 
it  in  permanent  form. 

Though  mental  phenomena  of  many  kinds,  and  especially 
of  the  simpler  kinds,  are  explicable  only  as  resulting  from 
the  natural  selection  of  favourable  variations;  yet  there 
are,  I  believe,  still  more  numerous  mental  phenomena, 
including  all  those  of  any  considerable  complexity,  which 
cannot  be  explained  otherwise  than  as  results  of  the 
inheritance  of  functionally-produced  modifications.  What 
theory  of  psychological  evolution  is  espoused,  thus  depends 
on  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the  doctrine  that  not  oidy 
in  the  individual,  but  in  the  successions  of  individuals, 
use  and  disuse  of  parts  produce  respectively  increase  and 
decrease  of  them. 

Of  course  there  are  involved  the  conceptions  we  form  of 
the  genesis  and  nature  of  our  higher  emotions ;  and,  by 
implication,  the  conceptions  we  form  of  our  moral  intuitions. 
If  functionally-produced  modifications  are  inheritable,  then 
the  mental  associations  habitually  produced  in  individuals 
by  experiences  of  the  relations  between  actions  and  their 
consequences,  pleasurable  or  painful,  may,  in  the  succes- 
sions of  individuals,  generate  innate  tendencies  to  like  or 
dislike  such  actions.  But  if  not,  the  genesis  of  such  tend- 
encies is,  as  we  shall  see,  not  satisfactorily  explicable. 

Th:)t  our  sociological  beliefs  must  also  be  profoundly 
affected  by  the  conclusions  we  draw  on  this  point,  is 
obvious.  If  a  nation  is  modified  en  mafse  by  transmission 
of  the  effects  produced  on  the  natures  of  its  members 
by  those  modes  of  daily  activity  which  its  institutions 
and  circumstances  involve;  then  we  must  infer  that  such 
institutions  and  circumstances  mould  its  members  far 
more  rapidly  and  comprehem^ively  than  they  can  do  if 
the  sole  cause  of  adaptation  to  them  is  the  more  frequent 


THE  FACTORS  OP  GRQANIC  EVOLUTION.         405 

■nrvival   of  individuals   who   happen   to   have   varied    in 
favourable  ways. 

I  will  add  oaly  that,  considering  the  width  and  depth 
of  the  effects  which  acceptance  of  one  or  other  of  these 
hypotheses  must  have  on  our  views  of  Life^  Mind,  Morals, 
and  Politics,  the  question — Which  of  them  is  true  ?  demands, 
beyond  all  other  questions  whatever,  the  attention  of 
scientific  men. 


Af^er  the  above  articles  were  published,  I  received  from 
Dr.  Downes  a  copy  of  a  paper  "  On  the  Influence  of  Li^ht 
on  Protoplasm,"  written  by  himself  and  Mr.  T.  P.  Blunt,  m.a., 
which  was  communicated  to  the  Royal  Society  in  1878.  It 
was  a  continuation  of  a  preceding  paper  which,  referring 
chiefly  to  Bacteria,  contended  that — 

"  Light  is  inimical  to,  and  under  favourable  conditions  may  wholly  prevent, 
the  development  of  these  organisms." 

This  supplementary  paper  goes  onto  show  that  the  injurious 
effect  of  light  upon  protoplasm  results  only  in  presence  of 
oxvgen.  Taking  first  a  comparatively  simple  type  of  mole- 
cule which  enters  into  the  composition  of  organic  matter, 
the  authors  say,  after  detailing  experiments  : — 

"  It  was  evident,  therefore,  that  oxygen  was  the  agent  of  destruction  under 
the  influence  of  sunlight." 

And  accounts  of  experiments  upon  minute  organisms  are 
followed  by  the  sentence — 

"  It  seemed,   therefore,   that  in  absence  of   an  atmosphere,   light  failed 
entirely  to  produce  any  effect  on  such  organisms  as  were  able  to  appear." 
They    sum    up    the    results    of    their    experiments    in    the 

paragraph — 

"  We  conclude,  therefore,  both  from  analogy  and  from  direct  experiment, 
that  the  observed  action  on  these  organisms  is  not  dependent  on  light  j)cr  se, 
but  that  the  presence  of  free  oxygen  is  necessary ;  light  and  o.\ygen  together 
accomplishing  what  neither  can  do  alone:  and  the  inftience  seems  irresistible 
that  the  cilect  produced  is  a  gradual  oxidation  of  the  oonaUtuout  protoplasm 


406  THE    FACTORS    OF    ORGANIC    EVOLUTION. 

of  these  organisms,  and  that,  in  this  respect,  protoplasm,  although  living,  is 
not  exempt  from  laws  which  appear  to  govern  the  relations  of  light  and 
oxygen  to  forms  of  matter  less  highly  endowed.  A  force  which  is  indirectly 
absolutely  essential  to  life  as  we  know  it,  and  matter  in  the  abtence  of  which 
life  has  not  yet  been  proved  to  exist,  here  unite  for  its  destruction." 

What  is  the  obvious  implication  ?  If  oxygen  in  presence 
of  light  destroys  one  of  these  minutest  portions  of  proto- 
plasm, what  will  be  its  effect  on  a  larger  portion  of  proto* 
plasm  ?  It  will  work  an  effect  on  the  surface  instead  of  on 
the  whole  mass.  Not  like  the  minutest  mass  made  inert  all 
through,  the  larger  mass  will  be  made  inert  only  on  its  out- 
side; and,  indeed,  the  like  will  happen  with  the  minutest 
mass  if  the  light  or  the  oxygen  is  very  small  in  quantity. 
Hence  there  will  result  an  envelope  of  changed  matter, 
inclosing  and  protecting  the  unchanged  protoplasm — there 
vrill  result  a  rudimentary  cell-wulL 


A  COUNTER-CRITICISM. 
[^First  p7ihUs7ied  in  The  Nineteenth  Century,  for  February,  1888.] 

"While  I  do  not  concur  in  sundry  of  the  statements  and 
conclusions  contained  in  the  article  entitled  "  A  Great  Con- 
fession/' contributed  by  the  Duke  of  Argyll  to  the  last 
number  of  this  Review,  yet  I  am  obliged  to  him  for  having 
raised  afresh  the  question  discussed  in  it.  Though  the  in- 
junction "  Rest  and  be  thankful/'  is  one  for  which  in  many 
spheres  much  may  be  said — especially  in  the  political,  where 
undue  restlessness  is  proving  very  mischievous;  yet  rest 
and  be  thankful  is  an  injunction  out  of  place  in  science. 
Unhappily,  while  politicians  have  not  duly  regarded  it,  it 
appears  to  have  been  taken  to  heart  too  much  by  naturalists; 
in  so  far,  at  least,  as  concerns  the  question  of  the  origin 
of  species. 

The  new  biological  orthodoxy  behaves  just  as  the  old 
biological  orthodoxy  did.  In  the  days  before  Darwin,  those 
who  occupied  themselves  with  the  phenomena  of  life,  passed 
by  with  unobservant  eyes  the  multitudinous  facts  which 
point  to  an  evolutionary  origin  for  plants  and  animals  ;  and 
they  turned  deaf  ears  to  those  who  insisted  on  the  signifi- 
cance of  these  facts.  Now  that  they  have  come  to  believe 
in  this  evolutionary  origin,  and  have  at  the  same  time 
accepted  the  hypothesis  that  natural  selection  has  been  the 
sole  cause  of  the  evolution,  they  are  similarly  unobservant 


468  A   COUNTER-CRITICISM. 

of  the  multitudinous  facts  whicli  cannot  rationally  he 
ascribed  to  that  cause  ;  and  turn  deaf  ears  to  those  who 
would  draw  their  attention  to  them.  The  attitude  is  the 
same ;  it  is  only  the  creed  which  has  changed. 

But,  as  above  implied,  though  the  protest  of  the  Duke  of 
Argyll  against  this  attitude  is  quite  justifiable,  it  seems  to 
me  that  many  of  his  statements  cannot  be  sustained.  Some 
of  these  concern  me  personally,  and  others  are  of  impersonal 
concern.  1  propose  to  deal  with  them  in  the  order  in  which 
they  occur. 

On  page  144 the  Dukeof  Argyll  quotes  me  as  omitting  "for 
the  present  any  consideration  of  a  factor  which  may  be  dis- 
tinguished as  primordial;"  and  he  represents  me  as  implying 
by  this  "  that  Darwin's  ultimate  conception  of  some  primor- 
dial 'breathing  of  the  breath  of  life '  is  a  conception  which 
can  be  omitted  only  '  for  the  present.' "  Even  had  there 
been  no  other  obvious  interpretation,  it  would  have  been  a 
somewhat  rash  assumption  that  this  was  my  meaning  when 
referring  to  an  omitted  factor ;  and  it  is  surprising  that  this 
assumption  should  have  been  made  after  reading  the  second 
of  the  two  articles  criticised,  in  which  this  factor  omitted 
from  the  first  is  dealt  with  :  this  omitted  third  factor  being 
the  direct  physico-chemical  action  of  the  medium  on  the 
organism.  Such  a  thought  as  that  which  the  Duke  of 
Argyll  ascribes  to  me,  is  so  incongruous  with  the  beliefs  I 
have  in  many  places  expressed  that  the  ascription  of  it  never 
occurred  to  me  as  possible. 

Lower  down  on  the  same  page  are  some  other  sentences 
having  personal  implications,  which  I  must  dispose  of  before 
going  into  the  general  question.  The  Duke  says  "  it  is  more 
than  doubtful  whether  any  value  attaches  to  the  new  factor 
with  which  he  [I]  desires  to  supplement  it  [natural  selec- 
tion] " ;  and  he  thinks  it  "  unaccountable  "  that  I  "  should 
make  so  great  a  fuss  about  so  small  a  matter  as  the  effect  of 
use  and  disuse  of  particular  organs  as  a  separate  and  a 


A   COUNTER-CRITICISM.  469 

newly-recogm'sed  factor  in  the  development  of  varieties."  I 
do  not  suppose  that  the  Duke  of  Argyll  intended  to  cast 
upon  me  the  disagreeable  imputation^  that  I  claim  as  ncAv 
that  which  all  who  ai'e  even  slightly  acquainted  with  the 
facts  know  to  be  anything  rather  than  new.  But  his  words 
certainly  do  this.  How  he  should  have  thus  written  in  spite 
of  the  extensive  knowledge  of  the  matter  which  he  evidently 
has,  and  how  he  should  have  thus  written  in  presence  of  the 
evidence  contained  in  the  articles  he  criticizes,  I  cannot 
understand.  Naturalists,  and  multitudes  besides  naturalists, 
know  that  the  hypothesis  which  I  am  represented  as  putting 
forward  as  new,  is  much  older  than  the  hypothesis  of  natural 
selection — goes  back  at  least  as  far  as  Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin. 
My  purpose  was  to  bring  into  the  foreground  again  a  factor 
which  has,  I  think,  been  of  late  years  improperly  ignored  ; 
to  show  that  Mr.  Darwin  recognized  this  factor  in  an  in- 
creasing degree  as  he  grew  older  (by  showing  which  I 
should  have  thought  I  sufficiently  excluded  the  supposition 
that  I  brought  it  forward  as  new)  ;  to  give  further  evi- 
dence that  this  factor  is  in  operation ;  to  show  there  are 
numerous  phenomena  which  cannot  be  interpreted  without 
it ;  and  to  argue  that  if  proved  operative  in  any  case,  it  may 
be  inferred  that  it  is  operative  on  all  structures  having  active 
functions. 

Strangely  enough,  this  passage,  in  which  I  am  represented 
as  implying  novelty  in  a  doctrine  which  I  have  merely 
sought  to  emphasize  and  extend,  is  immediately  succeeded 
by  a  passage  in  which  the  Duke  of  Argyll  himself  represents 
the  doctrine  as  being  familiar  and  well  established  : — 

"  That  organs  thus  enfeebled  [i.e.  by  persistent  disuse]  are  transmitted  by 
inheritance  to  offspring  in  a  like  condition  of  functional  and  structural  decline, 
is  a  correlated  physiological  doctrine  not  generally  disputed.  The  converse 
case — of  increased  strength  and  development  arising  out  of  the  habitual  and 
healthy  use  of  special  organs,  and  of  the  transmission  of  these  to  offspring — • 
is  a  case  illustrated  by  many  examples  in  the  breeding  of  domestic  animals. 
I  do  not  know  to  what  else  we  can  attribute  the  long  slender  legs  and  bodies 
of  greyhounds  so  manifestly  adapted  to  speed  of  foot,  or  the  delicate  powers 


470  L   COUNTER-CRITICISM. 

of  smell  in  pointers  and   setters,  or  a  dozen  cases  of  modified  structuw 
effected  by  artificial  selection." 

In  none  of  the  assertions  contained  in  this  passage  can  I. 
agree.  Had  the  inheritance  of  "  functional  and  structural 
decline  "  been  "  not  generally  disputed/'  half  my  argument 
would  have  been  needless;  and  had  the  inheritance  of 
*'  increased  strength  and  development "  caused  by  use  been 
recognized,  as  "  illustrated  by  many  examples,"  the  other 
half  of  my  argument  would  have  been  needless.  But  both 
are  disputed ;  and,  if  not  positively  denied,  are  held  to  be 
unproved.  Greyhounds  and  pointers  do  not  yield  valid 
evidence,  because  their  peculiarities  are  more  due  to  arti- 
ficial selection  than  to  any  other  cause.  It  may,  indeed,  be 
doubted  whether  greyhounds  use  their  legs  more  than  other 
dogs.  Dogs  of  all  kinds  are  daily  in  the  habit  of  running 
about  and  chasing  one  another  at  the  top  of  their  speed — • 
other  dogs  more  frequently  than  greyhounds,  which  are  not 
much  given  to  play.  The  occasions  on  which  greyhounds 
exercise  their  legs  in  chasing  hares,  occupy  but  inconsider- 
able spaces  in  their  lives,  and  can  play  but  small  parts  in 
developing  their  legs.  And  then,  how  about  their  long 
heads  and  sharp  noses  ?  Are  these  developed  by  running  ? 
The  structure  of  the  greyhound  is  explicable  as  a  result 
mainly  of  selection  of  variations  occasionally  arising  from 
unknown  causes ;  but  it  is  inexplicable  otherwise.  Still 
more  obviously  invalid  is  the  evidence  said  to  be  furnished 
by  pointers  and  setters.  How  can  these  be  said  to  exercise 
their  organs  of  smell  more  than  other  dogs  ?  Do  not  all 
dogs  occupy  themselves  in  sniffing  about  here  and  there  all 
day  long :  tracing  animals  of  their  own  kind  and  of  other 
kinds  ?  Instead  of  admitting  that  the  olfactory  sense  is 
more  exercised  in  pointers  and  setters  than  in  other  dogs, 
it  might,  contrariwise,  be  contended  that  it  is  exercised 
less ;  seeing  that  during  the  greater  parts  of  their  lives 
they  are  shut  up  in  kennels  where  the  varieties  of  odours, 
on  which  to  practise  their  noses,  is  but  small.     Clearly  if 


A  COUNTER-CEITICISM.  471 

breeders  of  sporting  dogs  have  from  early  days  lia"bitnally 
bred  from  those  puppies  of  each  litter  which  had  the 
keenest  noses  (and  it  is  undeniable  that  the  puppies  of 
each  litter  are  made  different  from  one  another,  as  are  the 
children  in  each  human  family,  by  unknown  combinations 
of  causes),  then  the  existence  of  such  remarkable  powers  in 
pointers  and  setters  may  be  accounted  for;  while  it  is 
otherwise  unaccountable.  These  instances,  and  many 
others  such,  I  should  have  gladly  used  in  support  of  my 
argument,  had  they  been  available;  but  unfortunately 
they  are  not. 

On  the  next  page  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll's  article  (page 
145),  occurs  a  passage  which  I  must  quote  at  length  before 
I  can  deal  effectually  with  its  various  statements.  It  runs 
as  follows  : — 

"  But  if  natural  selection  is  a  mere  phrase,  vague  enough  and  wide  enough 
to  cover  any  number  of  the  physical  causes  concerned  in  ordinary  generation, 
then  the  whole  of  Mr.  Spencer's  laborious  argument  in  favour  of  his  '  other 
factor  '  becomes  an  argument  worse  than  superfluous.  It  is  wholly  fallacious 
in  assuming  that  this  'factor'  and  'natural  selection'  are  at  all  exclusive  of, 
or  even  separate  from,  each  other.  The  factor  thus  assumed  to  be  new  is 
simply  one  of  the  subordinate  cases  of  heredity.  But  heredity  is  the  central 
idea  of  natural  selection.  Therefore  natural  selection  includes  and  covers  all 
the  causes  which  can  possibly  operate  through  inheritance.  There  is  thus 
no  diflSculty  whatever  in  referring  it  to  the  same  one  factor  whose  solitary 
dominion  Mr.  Spencer  has  plucked  up  courage  to  dispute.  He  will  never 
succeed  in  shaking  its  dictatorship  by  such  a  small  rebellion.  His  little 
contention  is  like  some  bit  of  Bumbledom  setting  up  for  Home  Bule — some 
parochial  vestry  claiming  independence  of  a  universal  empire.  It  pretends 
to  set  up  for  itself  in  some  fragment  of  an  idea.  But  here  is  not  even  a 
fragment  to  boast  of  or  to  stand  up  for.  His  new  factor  in  organic  evolution 
has  neither  independence  nor  novelty.  Mr.  Spencer  is  able  to  quote  himself 
as  having  mentioned  it  in  his  Principles  of  Biology  published  some  twenty 
years  ago ;  and  by  a  careful  ransacking  of  Darwin  he  shows  that  the  idea 
was  familiar  to  and  admitted  by  him  at  least  in  his  last  edition  of  the  Origin 
of  Species.  .  .  .  Darwin  was  a  man  so  much  wiser  than  all  his  followers,"  &c. 

Had  there  not  been  the  Duke  of  Argyll's  signature  to 

the  article,  I  could  scarcely  have  believed  that  this  passage 

was  written  by  him.     Remembering  that  on  reading   his 

article  in  the  preceding  number   of   this  Review,  I   was 

31 


472  A   COUNTER-CRITICISM. 

struck  by  the  extent  of  knowledge,  clearness  of  discrimina- 
tion, and  power  of  exposition,  displayed  in  it,  I  can  scarcely 
understand  how  there  has  come  from  the  same  pen  a 
passage  in  which  none  of  these  traits  are  exhibited.  Even 
one  wholly  unacquainted  with  the  subject  may  see  in  tho 
last  two  sentences  of  the  above  extract,  how  strangely 
its  propositions  are  strung  together.  While  in  the  first  of 
them  I  am  represented  as  bringing  forward  a  ''new  factor," 
I  am  in  the  second  represented  as  saying  that  I  mentioned 
it  twenty  years  ago  !  In  the  same  breath  I  am  described  as 
claiming  it  as  new  and  asserting  it  as  old !  So,  again,  the 
uninstructed  reader,  on  comparing  the  first  words  of  the 
extract  with  the  last,  will  be  surprised  on  seeing  in  a 
scientific  article  statements  so  manifestly  wanting  in  pre- 
cision. If  "  natural  selection  is  a  mere  phrase,"  how  can 
Mr.  Darwin,  who  thought  it  explained  the  origin  of  species, 
be  regarded  as  wise  ?  Surely  it  must  be  more  than  a  mere 
phrase  if  it  is  the  key  to  so  many  otherwise  inexplicable 
facts.  These  examples  of  incongruous  thoughts  I  give  to 
prepare  the  way;  and  will  now  go  on  to  examine  the  chief 
propositions  which  the  quoted  passage  contains. 

The  Duke  of  Argyll  says  that  "  heredity  is  the  central 
idea  of  natural  selection."  Now  it  would,  I  think,  be  con- 
cluded that  those  who  possess  the  central  idea  of  a  thing 
have  some  consciousness  of  the  thing.  Yet  men  have  pos- 
sessed the  idea  of  heredity  for  any  number  of  generations 
and  have  been  quite  unconscious  of  natural  selection. 
Clearly  the  statement  is  misleading.  It  might  just  as  truly 
be  said  that  the  occurrence  of  structural  variations  in 
organisms  is  the  central  idea  of  natural  selection.  And  it 
might  just  as  truly  be  said  that  the  action  of  external 
agencies  in  killing  some  individuals  and  fostering  others  is 
the  central  idea  of  natural  selection.  No  such  assertions 
are  correct.  The  process  has  three  factors — heredity, 
variation,  and  external  action — any  one  of  which  being 
absent,  the  process  ceases.     The  conception  contains  three 


A   COUNTER-CRITICISM.  473 

corresponding  ideas,  and  if  any  one  be  struck  out,  the 
conception  cannot  be  framed.  No  one  of  them  is  the 
central  idea,  but  they  are  co-essential  ideas. 

From  the  erroneous  belief  that  "  heredity  is  the  central 
idea  of  natural  selection"  the  Duke  of  Argyll  draws  the 
conclusion,  consequently  erroneous,  that  "  natural  selection 
includes   and   covers   all   the   causes   which   can  possibly 
operate  through  inheritance."    Had  he  considered  the  cases 
which,  in  the  Principles  of  Biology,  I  have  cited  to  illus- 
trate the  inheritance  of  functionally-produced  modifications, 
he  would  have  seen  that  his  inference  is  far  from  correct. 
I  have  instanced  the  decrease  of  the  jaw  among  civilized 
men    as  a  change  of    structure  which   cannot   have  been 
produced  by  the  inheritance  of  spontaneous,  or  fortuitous, 
variations.     That  changes  of  structure  arising  from  such 
variations  may  be  maintained  and  increased  in  successive 
generations,  it  is  needful  that  the  individuals  in  whom  they 
occur  shall  derive  from  them  advantages  in  the  struggle  for 
existence — advantages,  too,  sufficiently  great  to  aid  their 
survival  and  multiplication  in  considerable  degrees.     But  a 
decrease  of   jaw   reducing  its  weight  by  even   an  ounce 
(which    would   be    a   large   variation),    cannot,    by    either 
smaller  weight  carried  or  smaller  nutrition  required,  have 
appreciably  advantaged  any  person  in  the  battle  of  life. 
Even   supposing  such  diminution  of  jaw  to  be  beneficial 
(and  in  the  resulting  decay  of  teeth  it  entails  great  evils), 
the  benefit  can  hardly  have  been  such  as  to  increase  the 
relative   multiplication   of   families   in  which   it   occurred 
generation    after   generation.      Unless   it   has    done   this, 
however,  decreased  size  of  the  jaw  cannot  have  been  pro- 
duced  by  the  natural   selection  of   favourable  variations. 
How  can  it  then  have  been  produced  ?     Only  by  decreased 
function — by  the  habitual  use  of  soft  food,  joined,  probably, 
with  disuse  of  the  teeth  as  tools.     And  now  mark  that  this 
cause  operates  on  all  members  of  a  society  which  falls  into 
civilized  habits.     Generation  after  generation  this  decreased 


474  A   COUNTER-CRITICISM. 

function  cliang-es  its  component  families  simultaneously. 
Natural  selection  does  not  cover  the  case  at  all — has 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  And  the  like  happens  in  multi- 
tudinous other  cases.  Every  species  spreading  into  a  new 
habitat,  coming  in  contact  with  new  food,  exposed  to  a 
different  temperature,  to  a  drier  or  moister  air,  to  a  more 
irregular  surface,  to  a  new  soil,  &c.,  &c.,  has  its  members 
one  and  all  subject  to  various  changed  actions,  which 
influence  its  muscular,  vascular,  respiratory,  digestive,  and 
other  systems  of  organs.  If  there  is  inheritance  of  func- 
tionally-produced modifications,  then  all  its  members  will 
transmit  the  structural  alterations  wrought  in  them,  and 
the  species  will  change  as  a  whole  without  the  supplanting 
of  some  stocks  by  others.  Doubtless  in  respect  of  certain 
changes  natural  selection  will  co-operate.  If  the  species, 
being  a  predacious  one,  is  brought,  by  migration,  into  the 
presence  of  prey  of  greater  speed  than  before  ;  then,  while 
all  its  members  will  have  their  limbs  strengthened  by  extra 
action,  those  in  whom  this  muscular  adaptation  is  greatest 
will  have  their  multiplication  furthered ;  and  inheritance 
of  the  functionally-increased  structures  will  be  aided,  in 
successive  generations,  by  survival  of  the  fittest.  But  it 
cannot  be  so  with  the  multitudinous  minor  changes  entailed 
by  the  modified  life.  The  majority  of  these  must  be  of 
such  relative  unimportance  that  one  of  them  cannot  give  to 
the  individual  in  which  it  becomes  most  marked,  advantages 
which  predominate  over  kindred  advantages  gained  by 
other  individuals  from  other  changes  more  favourably 
wrought  in  them.  In  respect  to  these,  the  inherited  effects 
of  use  and  disuse  must  accumulate  independently  of  natural 
selection. 

To  make  clear  the  relations  of  these  two  factors  to  one 
another  and  to  heredity,  let  us  take  a  case  in  which  the 
operations  of  all  three  may  be  severally  identified  and 
distinguished. 

Here  is  one  of  those  persons,  occasionally  met  with,  who 


A  COUNTER-CRITICISM.  475 

has  an  additional  finger  on  each  hand,  and  who,  we  will 
suppose,  is  a  blacksmith.  He  is  neither  aided  nor  much 
hindered  by  these  additional  fingers ;  but,  by  constant  use, 
he  has  greatly  developed  the  muscles  of  his  right  arm.  To 
avoid  a  perturbing  factor,  we  will  assume  that  his  wife,  too, 
exercises  her  arms  in  an  unusual  degree  :  keeps  a  mangle, 
and  has  all  the  custom  of  the  neighbourhood.  Such  being 
the  circumstances,  let  us  ask  what  are  the  established  facts, 
and  what  are  the  beliefs  and  disbeliefs  of  biologists. 

The  first  fact  is  that  this  six-fingered  blacksmith  will  be 
likely  to  transmit  his  peculiarity  to  some  of  his  children  ; 
and  some  of  these,  again,  to  theirs.  It  is  proved  that,  even 
in  the  absence  of  a  like  peculiarity  in  the  other  parent, 
this  strange  variation  of  structure  (which  we  must  ascribe 
to  some  fortuitous  combination  of  causes)  is  often  inherited 
for  more  than  one  generation.  Now  the  causes  which 
produce  this  persistent  six-fingeredness  are  unquestionably 
causes  which  "  operate  through  inheritance."  The  Duke  of 
Argyll  says  that  *'  natural  selection  includes  and  covers  all 
the  causes  which  can  possibly  operate  through  inheritance.'* 
How  does  it  cover  the  causes  which  operate  here  ?  Natural 
selection  never  comes  into  play  at  all.  There  is  no  foster- 
ing of  this  peculiarity,  since  it  does  not  help  in  the  struggle 
for  existence ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  it  is  such  a 
hindrance  in  the  struggle  that  those  who  have  it  disappear 
in  consequence.  It-  simply  gets  cancelled  in  the  course  of 
generations  by  the  adverse  influences  of  other  stocks. 

While  biologists  admit,  or  rather  assert,  that  the  peculi- 
arity in  the  blacksmith's  arm  which  was  born  with  him  is 
transmissible,  they  deny,  or  rather  do  not  admit,  that  the 
other  peculiarities  of  his  arm,  induced  by  daily  labour — its 
large  muscles  and  strengthened  bones — are  transmissible; 
They  say  that  there  is  no  proof.  The  Duke  of  Argyll 
thinks  that  the  inheritance  of  organs  enfeebled  by  disuse 
is  ''not  generally  disputed;"  and  he  thinks  there  is  clear 
proof  that  the  converse   change — increase  of   size   conse-« 


476  A   COUNTER-CRITICISM. 

quent  on  use — is  also  inherited.  But  biologists  dispute 
both  of  these  alleged  kinds  of  inheritance.  If  proof  is 
wanted,  it  will  be  found  in  the  proceedings  at  the  'last 
meeting  of  the  British  Association,  in  a  paper  entitled  '  Are 
Acquired  Characters  Hereditary  ? "  by  Professor  Ray  Lan- 
kester,  and  in  the  discussion  raised  by  that  paper.  Had 
this  form  of  inheritance  been,  as  the  Duke  of  Argyll  says, 
*'  not  generally  disputed,"  I  should  not  have  written  the  first 
of  the  two  articles  he  criticizes. 

But  supposing  it  proved,  as  it  may  hereafter  be,  that 
Buch  a  functionally-produced  change  of  structure  as  the 
blacksmith's  arm  shows  us,  is  transmissible,  the  persistent 
inheritance  is  again  of  a  kind  with  which  natural  selection 
has  nothing  to  do.  If  the  greatly  strengthened  arm 
enabled  the  blacksmith  and  his  descendants,  having  like 
strengthened  arms,  to  carry  on  the  battle  of  life  in  a  much 
more  successful  way  than  it  was  carried  on  by  other  men, 
survival  of  the  fittest  would  ensure  the  maintenance  and 
increase  of  this  trait  in  successive  generations.  But  the 
skill  of  the  carpenter  enables  him  to  earn  quite  as  much  as 
his  stronger  neighbour.  By  the  various  arts  he  has  been 
taught,  the  plumber  gets  as  large  a  weekly  wage.  The 
small  shopkeeper  by  his  foresight  in  buying  and  prudence 
in  selling,  the  village-schoolmaster  by  his  knowledge,  the 
farm-bailiff  by  his  diligence  and  care,  succeed  in  the 
struggle  for  existence  equally  well.  The  advantage  of  a 
strong  arm  does  not  predominate  over  the  advantages  which 
other  men  gain  by  their  innate  or  acquired  powers  of  other 
kinds ;  and  therefore  natural  selection  cannot  operate  so  as 
to  increase  the  trait.  Before  it  can  be  increased,  it  is 
neutralized  by  the  unions  of  those  who  have  it  with  those 
who  have  other  traits.  To  whatever  extent,  therefore, 
inheritance  of  this  functionally -produced  modification 
operates,  it  operates  independently  of  natural  selection. 

One  other  point  has  to  be  noted — the  relative  importance 
of  this  factor.     If  additional  developments  of  muscles  and 


A    COUNTER-CKITICISM.  477 

bones  may  be  transmitted — if,  as  Mr.  Darwin  held,  there 
are  various  other  structural  modifications  caused  by  use  and 
disuse  which,  imply  inheritance  of  this  kind — if  acquired 
characters  are  hereditary,  as  the  Duke  of  Argyll  believes; 
then  the  area  over  which  this  factor  of  organic  evolution 
operates  is  enormous.  Not  every  muscle  only,  but  every 
nerve  and  nerve-centre,  every  blood-vessel,  every  viscus, 
and  nearly  every  bone,  naay  be  increased  or  decreased  by 
its  influence.  Excepting  parts  which  have  passive  func- 
tions, such  as  dermal  appendages  and  the  bones  which 
form  the  skull,  the  implication  is  that  nearly  every  organ  in 
the  body  may  be  modified  in  successive  generations  by  the 
augmented  or  diminished  activity  required  of  it ;  and,  save 
in  the  few  cases  where  the  change  caused  is  one  which 
conduces  to  survival  in  a  pre-eminent  degree,  it  will  be  thus 
modified  independently  of  natural  selection.  Though  this 
factor  can  operate  but  little  in  the  vegetal  world,  and  can 
play  but  a  subordinate  part  in  the  lowest  animal  world  ; 
yet,  seeing  that  all  the  active  organs  of  all  animals  are 
subject  to  its  influence,  it  has  an  immense  sphere.  The 
Duke  of  Argyll  compares  the  claim  made  for  this  factor  to 
*'  some  bit  of  Bumbledom  setting  up  for  Home  Rule — some 
parochial  vestry  claiming  independence  of  a  universal 
empire."  But,  far  from  this,  the  claim  made  for  it  is  to  an 
empire,  less  indeed  than  that  of  natural  selection,  and  over 
a  small  part  of  which  natural  selection  exercises  concurrent 
power;  but  of  which  the  independent  part  has  an  area  that 
is  immense. 

It  seems  to  me,  then,  that  the  Duke  of  Argyll  is  mistaken 
in  four  of  the  propositions  contained  in  the  passages  I  have 
quoted.  The  inheritance  of  acquired  characters  is  disputed 
by  biologists,  though  he  thinks  it  is  not.  It  is  not  true  that 
'^heredity  is  the  central  idea  of  natural  selection."  The 
etatement  that  natural  selection  includes  and  covers  all  the 
causes  which  can  possibly  operate  through  inheritance,  is 
quite   erroneous.     And    if    the    inheritance    of    acquired 


478  A  COUNTEE-CRITICISM. 

characters  is  a  factor  at  all,  the  dominion  it  rules  over  is  not 
insignificant  but  vast. 

Here  I  must  hreak  off,  after  dealing  with  a  page  and  a 
half  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll's  article.  A  state  of  health 
which  has  prevented  me  from  publishing  anything  since 
"  The  Factors  of  Organic  Evolution/'  now  nearly  two  years 
ago,  prevents  me  from  carrying  the  matter  further.  Could 
I  have  pursued  the  argument  it  would,  I  believe,  have  been 
practicable  to  show  that  various  other  positions  taken  up  by 
the  Duke  of  Argyll  do  not  admit  of  effectual  defence.  But 
whether  or  not  this  is  probable,  the  reader  must  be  left  to 
judge  for  himseK.  On  one  further  point  only  will  I  say  a 
word ;  and  this  chiefly  because,  if  I  pass  it  by,  a  mistaken 
impression  of  a  serious  kind  may  be  diffused.  The  Duke  of 
Argyll  represents  me  as  "  giving  up ''  the  "  famous  phrase  " 
"  survival  of  the  fittest,"  and  wishing  "  to  abandon  it."  He 
does  this  because  I  have  pointed  out  that  its  words  have 
connotations  against  which  we  must  be  on  our  guard,  if  we 
would  avoid  certain  distortions  of  thought.  With  equal 
propriety  he  might  say  that  an  astronomer  abandons  the 
statement  that  the  planets  move  in  elliptic  orbits,  because 
he  warns  his  readers  that  in  the  heavens  there  exist  no  such 
things  as  orbits,  but  that  the  planets  sweep  on  through  a 
pathless  void,  in  directions  perpetually  changed  by  gravi- 
tation. 

I  regret  that  I  should  have  had  thus  to  dissent  so  entirely 
from  various  of  the  statements  made,  and  conclusions  drawn, 
by  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  because,  as  I  have  already  implied, 
I  think  he  has  done  good  service  by  raising  afresh  the 
question  he  has  dealt  with.  Though  the  advantages  which 
he  hopes  may  result  from  the  discussion  are  widely  unlike 
the  advantages  which  I  hope  may  result  from  it,  yet  we 
agree  in  the  belief  that  advantages  may  be  looked  for. 

END    OH'    VOL.    I. 

(1) 


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culties, Intellectual.  Subjective  Difficulties,  Emotional.  The  Educational  Bias. 
The  Bias  of  Patriotism.  The  Class  Bias.  The  Political  Bias.  The  Theological 
Bias.    Discipline.    Preparation  in  Biology.    Preparation  in  Psychology.    Conclusion. 

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WORKS   OF   THOMAS   H,  HUXLEY. 

Physiography. 

An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Nature.     With  Illus- 
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Essays  upon  Some  Controverted  Questions. 

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Theology,"  "Science  and  Pseudo-Science,"  "Agnosticism,"  and  "The  Rise 
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The  book  is  properly  termed  an  "  Introduction  to  Zoology." 

On  the  Origin  of  Species ;  or,  The  Causes  of  the 
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Lay  Sermons. 

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REMINISCENCES  OF  A  SQENTIST 

The  Autobiography  of  Joseph  Le  Conte. 

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Professor  Le  Conte  was  widely  known  as  a 
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later  years  were  spent  at  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia. But  his  early  life  was  passed  in  the  South  ; 
there  he  was  born  and  spent  his  youth ;  there  he 
was  living  when  the  civil  war  brought  ruin  to 
his  home  and  his  inherited  estate.  His  reminis- 
cences deal  with  phases  of  life  in  the  South  that 
have  unfailing  interest  to  all  students  of  American 
history.  His  account  of  the  war  as  he  saw  it  has 
permanent  value.  He  was  in  Georgia  when 
Sherman  marched  across  it.  Professor  Le  Conte 
knew  Agassiz,  and  writes  charmingly  of  his 
associations  with  him. 

"  Attractive  because  ot  its  unaffected  simplicity  and  directness." — 
Chicago  Chronicle. 

"Attractive  by  virtue  of  its  frank  simplicity." — New  York  Evening 
Post 

"  Well  worth  reading  even  if  the  reader  be  not  particularly  interested 
in  geology." — Nerv  York  Atnericatt. 

"  This  story  of  a  beautiful,  untiring  life  is  worthy  of  consideration  by 
every  lover  of  truth." — Si.  Paul  Despatch. 

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NEW     YORK.       BOSTON.       CHICAGO.       LONDON. 


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